US tyre manufacturers oppose Trump’s metal tariffs

Members of the US Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA – and other leading executives – have sent a letter to President Trump urging him to rethink the proposed 25 percent tariffs on imported steel. The letter cites significant, negative impacts to US manufacturers with cascading detriments to US commerce and the economy.

Anne Forristall Luke, USTMA president and CEO, explained: “Our mobile society depends on tires, and our tyres depend on specialized steel. Domestic steel producers simply do not have the ability to produce the type of steel wire rod needed to support the $27 billion US tyre manufacturing industry, which is why virtually all of such steel wire rod is sourced from foreign suppliers. To levy a 25 per cent tariff on steel imports would cause incredible harm to the growing US tyre manufacturing industry and the jobs of hundreds of thousands of hard-working Americans who work every day to keep the American economy and military on the road.”