ITC Finds ‘Reasonable Indication’ of Damage from China Imports

It appears now that the fast-tracked USW complaint against imported China-made consumer tires has picked up even more speed.

This morning the U.S. International Trade Commission announced that its investigation has found “reasonable indication that an industry in the United States is materially injured or threatened with material injury by reason of imports from China of certain passenger vehicle and light truck tires,” that “are alleged to be sold in the United States at less than fair value and are allegedly subsidized by the Government of China.”

As a result, the ITC gave “notice of the commencement of the final phase of its investigations,” the schedule for which will be released once the Commerce Department makes affirmative or negative “preliminary determinations in the investigations.”

Further, the ITC notice said, “Parties that filed entries of appearance in the preliminary phase of the investigations need not enter a separate appearance for the final phase of the investigations. Industrial users, and, if the merchandise under investigation is sold at the retail level, representative consumer organizations have the right to appear as parties in Commission antidumping and countervailing duty investigations.”

The ITC made its most recent decision on Aug. 15, but it was not posted in the Federal Register until today.

ITC Vice Chairman Dean Pinkert and Commissioners Irving Williamson and Rhonda Schmidtlein voted that there is “reasonable indication” that the U.S. tire industry is being “materially injured by reason of” the importation of consumer tires from China, while ITC Chairman Meredith Broadbent and Commissioners David Johanson and F. Scott Kieff voted that there is “reasonable indication” that the industry was “threatened with material injury” because of the subject imports.

On Aug. 13, acting on a petition by the USW, U.S. Department of Commerce pushed back to November the deadline for completion of the preliminary determination on its antidumping and countervailing duty complaint targeting China-made consumer tires imported into the U.S.

That extension moved the due date for a preliminary determination by the Commerce Department from Sept. 17 back to Nov. 21.

The Commerce Department announcement did not state if other established deadlines would be impacted. The Commerce Department is slated to determine any dumping margins by Dec. 1 and issue a final decision on countervailing duties that same day. Any antidumping duties are slated to be set by Feb. 17, 2015, and final decisions by the ITC are not scheduled to come until Jan. 15, 2015, on countervailing duties and March 31, 2015, on antidumping duties.

McCarthy Tire Service recently opened a new in-house commercial wheel refinishing facility. According to the company, the facility has the ability to refinish over 1,000 wheels per day and technicians will utilize equipment for inspection, surface preparation, pre-treatment, and automated coating techniques at the facility.

“We're thrilled to unveil this wheel refinishing facility,” John McCarthy Jr., president of McCarthy Tire Service said. “This investment reflects our dedication to providing our customers with unparalleled efficiency and a one-stop shop for all their commercial tire and wheel needs. By streamlining the refinishing process, we can help fleets minimize downtime and maximize productivity.”