The Chinese tire industry is paying close attention to the recently filed petition by the United Steelworkers asking trade officials to launch an anti-dumping and countervailing duty against passenger and LT tires from China.
“The tire case shows that the U.S. is taking a tough stance on China, a move for the Democratic Party to win voter support before the midterm election,” Yao Weiqun, associate president of the Shanghai WTO Affairs Consultation Center told the China Daily. “The Chinese exports are low-end tires, and they don’t endanger the U.S. industry.”
The China Daily is reporting that a source with the China Rubber Industry Association are “discussing solutions” to deal with the possible U.S. probes.
In 2009, when the USW had filed a petition for relief under Section 421 of the Trade Act, China appeared to the World Trade Organization but did not win support. The result was three years of increased tariffs.
Chinese officials told the Daily that China and the U.S. are frequently seeing trade friction. Recently China expressed strong dissatisfaction with the U.S. to apply duties between 18.5%-35.2% on Chinese solar equipment.
“The U.S. Commerce Department usually follows the [union’s] petitions and thus is very likely to launch a trade probe into Chinese tire exports again … The results may not be optimistic,” said Tu Xinquan, deputy director of the China Institute for WTO Studies at the University of International Business and Economics.
