CONTACT: R.J. Hufnagel, (412) 562-2450
The United Steelworkers (USW) union today welcomed the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) announcement of its affirmative final determinations on antidumping and countervailing duty investigations of truck and bus tire imports from China.
The DOC investigation was in response to a petition the USW filed a year ago alleging that truck and bus tires from China were benefitting from illegal government subsidies and were being dumped in the United States at below-market prices. The DOC said it found evidence to support both claims and imposed dumping margins on Chinese importers ranging from 9 percent to 23 percent and subsidy rates ranging from 40 percent to 65 percent.
The International Trade Commission (ITC) still must decide if workers and industry have been injured by these imports before any duties become permanent.
China’s predatory policies have allowed it to capture an increasing share of the U.S. market, threatening jobs at tire plants across the country. Imports of truck and bus tires into the United States totaled more than $1 billion in 2015.
“This ruling would be a major victory for American rubber workers, their families and their communities if the ITC decides that workers have been ‘injured.’ Every sector of the U.S. tire industry has been under siege from China’s unfair and illegal trade practices,” said USW International Secretary-Treasurer Stan Johnson, who chairs the union’s national rubber and tire bargaining conference.
“The USW has consistently fought for relief for the entire rubber and tire industry, from passenger car and off-road vehicle tires to truck and bus tires,” Johnson said. “We’re extremely pleased to see strong action to protect good-paying, family-supporting jobs and preserve market share for American employers.”
The USW represents 850,000 workers in North America employed in many industries that include metals, rubber, chemicals, paper, oil refining and the service and public sectors.