The antidumping duty investigation is in response to an October petition from the United Steelworkers (USW) union, which alleged dumping margins as high as 47.8 percent that allowed imports to undercut domestic producers and imperil U.S. jobs.
"Dumping" is when a company sells a product in a foreign market for less than it would in its domestic market.
The International Trade Commission (ITC) authorized a full investigation in late November. During the one day hearing, Prinx Chengshan Tire North America Inc. was the only company opposing the USW's petition to testify in person.
Prinx North America President Sam Felberbaum and Vice President of Marketing and Development Ken Coltrane argued that domestically produced truck tires are sold predominantly to original equipment (OE) customers and major fleet customers, where contract terms are negotiated directly between the fleets and the tire makers and include value-added components such as mounting and balancing costs, roadside assistance, tire-tracking, favorable retreading terms, real-time inventory access and more.
Tire makers/brands active in the Tier III/IV categories, on the other hand, compete much more heavily on price alone and service the independent trucking fleets and owner-operators to a much greater degree than do the major brands, Felberbaum and Coltrane testified.
According to a timeline published by the ITC, the DOC must issue its final ruling by July 29. The International Trade Commission will then have until Sept. 12 to issue its final determination.
The final issuance of the order is expected no later than Sept. 19.
