China cancels preferential tariffs on import tyre products

On 28 December 2022, the Customs Tariff Commission of China’s State Council issued an announcement stating that from 1 January 2023, import tariffs on some commodities will be adjusted. In 2023, the products that can still enjoy preferential tariffs are retreaded tyres for aircraft. As in the previous year, such products will be subject to a provisional import duty of 4 per cent. Under normal circumstances, Chinese customs should impose a 20 per cent tariff on retreaded tyres for aircraft.

Tyrepress notes that Chinese tyre imports would hardly enjoy preferential tariffs in 2023. In the past year, the import tariffs for “tyres with a section width of 24 inches and above (only for the tariff number 40118092)” and “tyres with a section width of 30 inches and above (only for the tariff number 40119090)” can be levied at 17 per cent. However, in 2023, China’s latest “temporary tax rate table for imported commodities” does not mention the related products. If there are no preferential tariffs, these tyre products need to pay at least a 25 per cent tariff when entering China. The explanation given by the Ministry of Finance of China is to cancel the provisional import tax rate of large-size tyres “according to the domestic industry development and changes in supply and demand”.

The adjustment in 2023 is the second time in recent years that China has reduced tariff support for imported tyres. The data for 2020 shows that when seven types of tyre products are imported into China, they can get preferential treatment and only need to pay an 8 per cent tariff. The products involved include “truck and bus tyres with a section width of 30 inches and above” and various OTR products. In 2021, the Ministry of Finance implemented preferential tax rates on retreaded tyres for aircraft and two products with the highest import tariff rates (25 per cent import tariff) among the seven tyre products. In 2023, China will only temporarily reduce import tariffs on aircraft tyres.

Changes in import tariffs, to a certain extent, reflect the development of China’s tyre industry in recent years. Chinese tyre companies have made significant breakthroughs in wide-section TBR and OTR products. However, China still seems to depend strongly on imports for aircraft tyres.