USW questions tyre tariff opponent’s ‘conflicting position’

Campaigning for the next US presidential election is underway, and even candidates’ positions on tyre-related issues are being held up to the light for further examination. One candidate to find this out is Republican hopeful Mitt Romney, who has been criticised by United Steelworkers (USW) International president Leo W. Gerard over inconguencies between current campaign claims and his previous position on Chinese tyre tariffs.

Gerard notes that during recent campaigning Romney declared he’d get tough on China and impose tariffs on Chinese-made products if they break the rules of international trade. “That sounds like flip flopping,” the USW president opined. “Not long ago, he criticised the (Obama) administration for imposing tariffs on unfairly priced tyres imported from China. It’s just one more example of the many conflicting positions Romney has taken on issues from health care to taxes.”

The USW credits President Obama’s 2009 decision to impose tariffs on certain Chinese tyres as having “stemmed the hemorrhaging of American jobs and investment that a flood of unfairly traded Chinese imports caused.”

“Because of President Obama’s action, investments in US tyre manufacturing are up, jobs have been created and our companies are shipping more tyres to consumers,” Gerard added. “When Obama acted, Romney criticised the President’s decision to defend American jobs in the tyre industry and called the tyre tariffs “bad for the nation and our workers.”