US tariff expiry date draws near

On 26 September, the US tariff on Chinese-manufactured consumer tyres is scheduled to end. On that day it’ll be exactly three years since a 35 per cent duty was slapped upon all such tyres imported from China; this was reduced to 30 per cent in 2010 and for the past 12 months US consumers have paid a 25 per cent duty on Chinese passenger car and light truck tyres. The tariff received a mixed welcome – the Tire Industry Association referred to it in 2009 as “a politically motivated decision that will end up costing more jobs than it saves” while the United Steelworkers union praised Barack Obama as being “a President with the guts to enforce trade laws.” Either way, in little over a month the tyre tariff will be history.

Or will it? One North American trade journal raises the question of what will happen come 26 September 2012. In an article published 20 August, Modern Tire Dealer notes that the option of extending the tariff is outlined in a Congressional Research Service report. While the publication quotes Executive Office of the President representative Nkenge Harmon as saying “no interested parties made a request for an extension” of the tariff, it also shares comments made by Tire Industry Association executive vice-president Roy Littlefield.

“We have talked to many people in DC about that,” Littlefield said. “They indicate that the guidelines give us hope, but if the President wants to extend it without that notice there are ways he could do it. So we hesitate to say anything definitive – but we hope it expires.”