WASHINGTON (July 17, 2008) — The U.S. Department of Commerce has issued its final determination, confirming the dumping and countervailing subsidies levied on imported off-the-road tires from China.
The agency said its investigation found that Chinese exporters of OTR tires have received government subsidies and sold the tires at below the cost of production in the U.S.
The tires were sold at up to 210.48 percent less than normal value and received government subsidies ranging from 2.45 to 14 percent, the Commerce Department said.
The Commerce Department has proposed a series of duties, varying by company, which is subject to the U.S. International Trade Commission's final determination of injury to domestic manufacturers. That decision is expected to be issued around Aug. 21. If the ITC agrees with the determination, duties will be imposed; if it doesn't, the investigations will end.
The latest decision comes more than a year after Titan Tire Corp. and the United Steelworkers (USW) filed a joint petition to the ITC last June asking for duties against Chinese OTR tire makers. Bridgestone Americas Holding Inc. participated in the petition as a domestic interested party.
Commerce's investigation concluded that Guizhou Tyre Co. Ltd./Guizhou Advance Rubber, Hebei Starbright Tire Co. Ltd., Tianjin United Tire & Rubber International Co. Ltd. and Xuzhou Xugong Tyre Co. Ltd. received final dumping rates of 4.08, 19.15, 8.09 and zero percent, respectively. Twenty-five other exporters qualified for a separate dumping rate of 9.48 percent. A dumping rate of 210.48 percent was applied to all other Chinese exporters.
Commerce determined that Hebei Starbright, Guizhou Tyre, and Tianjin received net subsidy rates of 14, 2.45, and 6.85 percent, respectively. A final net subsidy rate of 5.62 percent applied to all other Chinese exporters.
According to Commerce data, imports of OTR tires from China jumped 11 percent from 2005 to 2007, attaining an estimated value of $360 million in 2007.