Titan to Trump: We’re not the Goodyear you want to avoid

In order to prevent damage from ‘friendly fire’, Titan International Inc. has issued a statement distancing itself from the spat between US President Donald Trump and the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. Titan wants to make it clear that there is absolutely no link between it and the alleged Goodyear diversity training document that’s circulating on the internet.

“Wednesday morning (19 August), we learned of the news being shared about Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company’s reported diversity training and felt it was important to make clear that Titan is in no way connected to the training in question,” says Paul Reitz, chief executive officer of Titan International. “While Titan has licensing rights to design, produce and sell the Goodyear Farm Tires brand, we are an entirely separate publicly held entity under separate management and have no shared staff or facilities with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.”

Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed support for US manufacturers through his “Buy America” campaign, and this is a hymn sheet that Titan – which considers itself a long-standing “champion of American manufacturing” – also sings from. “In this respect, President Trump and Titan are well-aligned in protecting the more than 2,100 hardworking Americans employed by Titan in multiple manufacturing facilities across Illinois, Iowa, Ohio and Tennessee who proudly build Goodyear Farm Tires, along with Titan Wheels and Titan Tires,” states Titan International.

‘Misguided movement’ could affect hardworking businesses

The company also notes that in addition to the 2,100 people it directly employs in the United States, Titan and Goodyear Farm Tires are sold at nearly 2,000 local tyre dealers across the country. “And a misguided movement to cancel Goodyear Farm Tires — manufactured and sold by [a] completely separate company from Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company — could adversely affect thousands of additional hardworking family-owned tyre businesses across the country.”

“Titan has a diverse workforce throughout all of our locations in the US that build some of the world’s best agriculture, construction, and forestry wheels and tyres,” adds Paul Reitz. “While at work, we believe our employees should be focused on operating safely and manufacturing high-quality products, and therefore employees are allowed to wear what they would like as long as it meets safety standards and isn’t offensive.

“Our employees take tremendous pride in our products and we welcome any politician, customer, farmer, construction operator, or just curious folks that would like to see how we operate and meet the fine men and women that we employ.”