China seeks to counter truck, bus tire tariffs set by US

The China Rubber Industry Association has announced that it will lobby against the US for imposing tariffs on China truck and bus tire imports.

The association has pointed out that there could be political motives behind the setting of tariffs as these were carried out in the time of the US elections. The CRIA also brought up the previous countervailing and anti-dumping issue that led to a US probe on China car tires which was discontinued recently by the ITC.

CRIA secretary general Xu Wenying, in an article by ERJ China Correspondent Jane Ho, said that USW, one of the petitioners in the US-China OTR tire imports issue, has ties with the US Democratic Party, and that China car tire imports tariffs did not lead to recovery in US domestic production.

The CRIA, not optimistic about the proceedings in ITC's measures, has expressed that it will plan for each step of their side's strategy, including gathering more data to strengthen their case.

As for implications of tariffs on China's tire exports to the overall market, some tire industry consultants see this as detrimental. JD Guerrieri, a consultant with years of experience in selling imported tires, sees a possible "domino effect" wherein rising costs of imports will be eventually passed to US consumers of truck and bus tires, including government agencies. He also stated the possibility that the cause of decline in US tire sales is the wear-and-tear of the products themselves, causing buyers to shift to imported tires.

In addition, according to market research publisher Freedonia Group, China is one of the biggest tire providers and major growth contributors in the global tire market. Given this, the results of the importation issues from China would definitely have an effect on global prices and demand in the coming years.

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