US Congress passes fresh tariff legislation
The US House of Representatives has joined the Senate in passing new legislation that would allow the government to impose higher tariffs on goods from state-controlled economies that subsidise exports to the US, reports Tire Review. The journal says the legislation targets the tyre industry in particular, and was drafted and presented in reaction to the December 2011 federal appeals court ruling that the Commerce Department did not have the power to levy so-called punitive countervailing duties, effectively tossing out a series of duties – some as high as 210 per cent – it placed on China-produced OTR and agricultural tyres imported into the US.
Those added duties, placed on the products in 2008, severely damaged the US’s small OTR and ag tyre market and led to the bankruptcy and eventual dismantling of importer and marketer GPX International. The House passed the new tariff measure 370-39 yesterday, and the Senate passed its version the day prior with a voice vote and no debate. The bill has been sent to President Obama for his signature.
“By passing this law, Congress has taken a clear stand against the unfair trade practices that have put countless American jobs in jeopardy,” vice president, Joe Biden said in a prepared statement.
Bridgestone Americas, Titan International and the USW brought the original action in 2007, and the Commerce Department’s 2008 ruling had been bounced through both the US court system and the World Trade Organisation, both of which eventually ruling that the US was applying punitive tariffs illegally and was, in fact, “double charging” on the import tax.
Tire Review said that there has been no comment by any member of the tyre industry.
Related news:
- Tyre tariff ineffective, Obama told
- Cost advantage of Chinese tyres has ‘narrowed’, says Cooper
- USW questions tyre tariff opponent’s ‘conflicting position’
- WTO upholds US import tariffs on Chinese produced tyres
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