Titan Testifies Before ITC at Final Injury Hearing

Titan International Inc. recently testified during the U.S. International Trade Commission’s final injury hearing on Jan. 4 and is filing a post hearing brief.

The hearing follow’s the Department of Commerce’s decision to uphold earlier determinations in its anti-dumping investigation into certain pneumatic OTR tires from India and countervailing duty investigations into OTR tires from India and Sri Lanka.

The DOC found in its anti-dumping case that “mandatory respondents ATC Tires Private Ltd. and Balkrishna Industries Limited had not sold certain new pneumatic off-the-road tires into the United States at less than fair value.” As a result of this negative final determination, the investigation has been terminated.

In its CVD investigation, the DOC upheld its previous affirmative determination that “critical circumstances exist with respect to certain exporters from India and all exporters from Sri Lanka.”

As a result the DOC set subsidy rates accordingly. Final subsidy rates in the CVD investigation, however, are lower than previously announced during the preliminary determination.

According to Titan, the company is optimistic the ITC will issue a final affirmative determination on countervailing duties issued by the Department of Commerce.

“We are pleased that the U.S. Department of Commerce made a final affirmative determination in both the Indian and Sri Lankan countervailing duty cases. Titan and the United Steelworkers Union petitioned the ITC in January 2016 for relief from unfair trade practices. The rates are in the 5% range for Indian imported tires and 2.2% for Sri Lankan imports. Titan will review options once the final ITC outcome is known, which includes a chance to comment on any perceived errors, if identified, in the materials as released by the DOC,” said Paul Reitz, Titan president and CEO.

The International Trade Commission will make its final injury determinations in OTR investigations on Feb. 17, 2017.

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has named Ryan Waldron as president of the company's Americas business unit, reporting to Chief Executive Officer and President Mark Stewart. He succeeds Steven R. McClellan, who retired on April 1.

"At Goodyear, our customers are at the center of everything we do, and in Ryan Waldron, we have a customer-centric, execution-focused business leader with a deep understanding of both the marketplace and all aspects of our business, as well as a proven track record of delivering results," Stewart said. "I am thrilled to announce him as president of Goodyear's Americas business and have enormous confidence that under his leadership, both the company and our customers will reach even greater levels of success."