Industrial tyre firm contests US tariffs against Sri Lanka manufactured products

On 4 February 2016, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) announced the initiation of antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations of imports of certain new pneumatic off-the-road tires from China and India, and a CVD investigation of imports of certain new pneumatic off-the-road tyres from Sri Lanka.

The petitioners for these investigations are Titan Tire Corporation (Des Moines, IA) and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, AFL-CIO, CLC (Pittsburgh, PA).

Then, on 14 June 2016, the DOC ruled that, in the India investigation Balkrishna Industries Limited (BKT) should face a tariff of 4.7 per cent. Doc also calculated a preliminary subsidy rate of 7.64 per cent for mandatory respondent ATC Tires Private Limited. All other producers/exporters in India have been assigned a preliminary subsidy rate of 6.17 per cent.

In the Sri Lanka investigation, DOC calculated a preliminary subsidy rate of 2.9 per cent for Camso Loadstar (Camso’s Sri Lanka operation. All other producers/exporters in Sri Lanka have been assigned a preliminary subsidy rate of 2.90 per cent.

However the next day on 15 June Camso contested the case made by the US Department of Commerce, which states that some manufacturers of off-the-road tyres (OTR) in Sri Lanka benefit from unfair government subsidies.

As a manufacturer of industrial tyres with operations in Sri Lanka, Camso firmly opposes this petition: “We do not benefit from unfair subsidies and as such, believe the claim is without merit,” says Jay Dhillon, vice president, North America – Aftermarket Division. “We’re competitive in our pricing and operate with integrity to deliver what’s best for our clients: premium enhanced tyres and tracks for OTR mobility solutions”.

The preliminary ruling of the Department of Commerce comes following the petition put forth by Titan Tire Corp. and the United Steelworkers Association regarding countervailing tariffs against foreign off-the-road tire (OTR) makers in January of 2016. A final ruling will be made in January of 2017.

“We want our clients to know there will be no price modifications in response to this preliminary ruling,” indicated Bob Bulger, vice president and general manager – Solideal On-Site Service. “We will observe a six-month minimum notice of any price change when the final decisions on countervailing duties comes in January 2017”.