ITC to report India OTR duties ruling April 27

WASHINGTON—The International Trade Commission (ITC) has set April 27 as the date it expects to decide on whether to continue antidumping and countervailing duties on imports of certain off-the-road (OTR) tires on India.

The ITC heard testimony from both sides of the issue during a hearing held March 2 at ITC's offices in Washington. The duties have been in place since early 2017.

The commissioners are scheduled to vote on the issue on April 7 and publish their findings on April 27.

The duties under review were the result of petitions in 2016 from Titan Tire Corp. and the United Steelworkers (USW) union, requesting relief under Sections 701 and 731 of the Trade Act.

The duties imposed, though, were considered relatively insignificant—antidumping of 3.67 percent industrywide and countervailing duties of 4.72 percent to 5.36 percent on specific companies.

In its preconference comments, Titan Tire urged the ITC to keep the duties in place, arguing that revoking the duties "would likely lead to continuation of recurrence of material injury to the U.S. OTR Tire industry within a reasonably foreseeable time."

The ITC is an independent, nonpartisan, quasi-judicial federal agency that fulfills a range of trade-related mandates. It states its mission is to: Investigate and make determinations in proceedings involving imports claimed to injure a domestic industry or violate U.S. intellectual property rights; provide independent analysis and information on tariffs, trade and competitiveness; and maintain the U.S. tariff schedule.

According to the ITC, this action covers new pneumatic OTR tires up to 39 inches in rim diameter. The agency defines the category as tires of various types and sizes designed for use principally on vehicles and implements in the agricultural, mining and construction, and other industrial sectors.

According to data presented by Titan Tire in a submission earlier this year to the ITC, the number of pneumatic OTR tires imported from India exceeded 2 million units in 2021, up from 1.29 million in 2020 and 1.47 million in 2019.

That translated into $345.5 million, Titan said, based on an average declared customs value of $168.20.

Overall, imports of the subject tires in 2021 totaled 4.22 million units, according to U.S. Department of Commerce data, indicating India accounted for roughly 47 percent of all imports in the categories under review. The value of these categories combined add up to just over $1 billion.

Other companies with U.S. manufacturing capacities— Bridgestone Americas, Carlstar Group L.L.C., Goodyear, Specialty Tires of America Inc. and Trelleborg Wheel Systems Americas L.L.C.—potentially affected by the duties did not participate in the hearings.

Balkrishna Industries Ltd. and ATC Tires Pvt. Ltd. (Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd.)—the companies most affected by the duties—submitted statements arguing that allowing the duties to lapse "will not lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury to the domestic industry."