Titan thanks US government for ‘diligence’ in reviewing tyre subsidies

Titan International has commented on the final results of the US Department of Commerce’s (DOC) review of imported OTR tyres from China in 2014 and 2015, which show the Chinese government increased the level of subsidies it gave tyre makers, enabling their products to continue selling in the US market at what the tyre maker calls a less than fair value.

“These results confirm our belief that the levels of government subsidisation had significantly increased and that the amount of dumping has continued,” said Paul Reitz, president and chief executive officer of Titan International. “The continued monitoring by the DOC of these orders and the imposition of accurate amounts of countervailing and antidumping duties is an important step in restoring conditions of fair trade. We will continue to work with the DOC to insure that any and all subsidisation and dumping by Chinese producers is met by appropriate duty levels. We have been fighting and will continue to fight against the unfair trade practices of any US trading partners.”

The results’ release updates the level of duties imposed on OTR tyre imports to counteract the most recent levels of subsidisation and dumping identified by the Department of Commerce. The identified levels of subsidisation have increased dramatically since they were last analysed. Specifically, the department found subsidy levels, which previously ranged from 2.52 per cent to 5.65 per cent, to be 34.46 per cent to 46.01 per cent in the recent review. The Department of Commerce has also continued to find that Chinese producers are selling at amounts significantly below their costs.

The Department of Commerce found in the dumping review that OTR tyres produced by major Chinese producers were sold in the US at levels below fair value ranging from 33.05 per cent to 105.31 per cent. Titan International comments that the practical effect of these findings is two-fold: For entries of merchandise that were covered by the reviews, the Department of Commerce will issue liquidation instructions for Customs to assess duties equal to the amount finally found (subject to any judicial review); if more than the cash deposits posted at the time of entry, importers are liable for the difference plus interest from the date of entry. Moreover, when the determinations are published in the Federal Register in the coming days, the Department of Commerce will provide instructions to US Customs to collect cash deposits on incoming entries from China reflecting the final rates found in this latest completed review.

Under US laws, the Department of Commerce will, if requested, periodically review the level of dumping and/or subsidisation under any existing countervailing duty or antidumping duty order. The existing OTR tyre orders were put into place as the result of Petitions filed by Titan and the United Steelworkers union.

“We thank the government agencies involved for their diligence in pursuing these reviews,” remarked Titan International chairman, Maurice Taylor. “These results confirm that imports of OTR tyres from China continue to be subsidised and dumped and harm US producers of OTR tyres in the US marketplace. I believe Titan will see a positive impact in our aftermarket business as a result of these determinations. On behalf of our shareholders and workers, we are pleased that the US government’s investigations have confirmed what we are seeing in the US marketplace.” sg