The union claims that a ”flood of imported consumer tires from China” has directly led to tire production job losses and plant closing in the U.S., and wants a firm importation unit quota of 21 million tires per year.
Just last year, the U.S. slapped a series of high import duties on China-produced small OTR and agricultural tires.
"Our tire industry is collapsing under the weight of 46 million Chinese tires entering our shrinking market annually,” said USW president Leo Gerard in a statement issued by the union. "We are aggressively using America’s trade remedy laws to help workers and their employers combat an import surge from a country not playing by the rules. Section 421 is a tool to redress Chinese import surges that gets us through the current economic crisis and preserves a part of America’s industrial base."
The USW filed a petition with the U.S. International Trade Commission under Section 421 of the Trade Act of 1974, claiming that imports of consumer tires from China increased from 2004 to 2008 by 215% in volume and 295% in value. In 2008, the petition said, some 46 million China-made tires were exported to the U.S. At the same time, the USW claims, U.S. production of consumer tires has dropped “by more than 25%.”
In the USW petition, the quota level would increase 5% per year over a three-year period.
The USW, however, did not specifically address tires produced in China by major tiremakers, such as Michelin, Goodyear, Bridgestone, Cooper and others that are exported to the U.S. (Tire Review/Akron)
