Trump tariffs clarified; tire price hikes to follow

AKRON—The verdict, finally, is in. It's a 25-percent tariff on passenger and light truck tires and—for now—10 percent on all other tire types, with wholesale price hikes to follow.

Following the series of import-tariff declarations announced, and later revised/paused by the Trump administration over the past 10 days, tire importers/distributors have begun dealing with the reality that the U.S. has begun placing 25-percent tariffs on passenger and light truck tires (under the Section 232 automotive/auto parts tariffs) and 10-percent reciprocal tariffs on nearly all other tire types—including medium truck/bus, farm/forestry, off-highway, industrial, solid, motorcycle, etc.

In addition, the majority of those contacted by Tire Business, a Crain sister publication of Rubber News, say it is their understanding that the new tariffs—both the automotive and reciprocal—are being applied in addition to any existing import duties, such as antidumping and/or countervailing.

The first domino, in terms of industry reaction to the elevated tariffs, has fallen, as Sumitomo Rubber North America announced April 10 it plans to raise prices by 25 percent on "select" passenger and light truck tires and by 10 percent on medium truck/bus and motorcycle tires, in response to the Section 232 and reciprocal tariffs being imposed by the U.S.

The increases are "pending further U.S. government announcements."

SRNA said it will update the Minimum Advertised Pricing program to reflect the changes. The firm's sales teams will provide details of the increase to customers.

For those trying to keep their scorecards up to date, the 25-percent increase on P/LT tires are because such products fall under the Section 232 definition of "auto parts" that went into effect on April 5 and are part of the Trump administration's efforts to drive investment in the domestic vehicle-manufacturing industry.

Apparently exempted from this tariff would be parts that comply with the rules for tariff-free trade under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) until such time that the Commerce Department establishes a process to apply it only to the components' non-U.S. content, according to the executive order.

After originally announcing broad reciprocal import tariffs on April 3 on nearly every country (except Canada and Mexico), Trump paused implementation for 90 days of those greatly elevated tariffs on April 9 and instead instituted the blanket 10-percent tariff.

Most companies impacted by the tariffs said their interpretation is that the 10 percent would be in addition to any existing tariffs.

In the case of P/LT tires, the U.S. has elevated antidumping and/or countervailing duties on products from China, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.

In the case of medium truck/bus tires, the U.S. already has elevated antidumping tariffs on such products from Thailand and China, as well as on off-highway tires from India.

Imports represent up to 75 percent of the U.S. tire aftermarket, according to Tire Business' analysis of available U.S. Commerce Department and U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association data. That varies by category but can represent nearly 100 percent in some cases (specialty trailer tires, for example).

Overall the U.S. imported $19 billion worth of tires last year, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. The value of imports increased by 2.4 percent in 2024 over 2023 and was up 7.2 percent over the last two years.

Thailand was No. 1 supplier of tires last year to the U.S. with an import value of $3.6 billion, ahead of Mexico ($2.25 billion), Canada ($1.87 billion), Japan ($1.49 billion) and Vietnam (1.39 billion).

The U.S.'s other major trading partners—Mexico and Canada—earlier were hit with 25-percent tariffs, although to what extent they apply to certain automotive components under the U.S-Canada-Mexico Trade Agreement is unclear.