The U.S. tire industry saw a big jump in imports from Brazil, Thailand and Vietnam in 2017, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission.
Vietnamese imports rose by over 60% – from more than $260 million to $422 million – between 2016 and 2017. U.S. imports from Vietnam have also increased by six times since 2014 in terms of the dollars.
Thailand made major gains, adding over $400 million in imports from 2016 and leapfrogging South Korea and Canada to take the second position on Tire Review‘s list of 2017 Top Importers for Tire Manufacturing. Although India has not imported as many tires by dollar value into the U.S. as China, Thailand and Canada, the country grew its U.S. exports by 21.2% from 2016 to 2017.
In 2017, China continued to lose ground on U.S. exports, dropping another $200 million and now holding only a slim margin against Thailand as the top importer of tires into the U.S. market.
To see how imports of tires into the U.S. had changed over the years from different countries, take a look at the chart below.