The USW has filed a petition with the Commerce Department seeking an expedited decision and implementation of anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Chinese-produced consumer tires exported to the U.S.
Formally known as a Petitioner’s Critical Circumstance Allegation, the action, taken in a formal letter to Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker in a Sept. 12 filing, claims that “there is a reasonable basis to believe or suspect that there have been massive imports” of such tires in a “relatively short period,” which the Commerce Department defines as a three-month period starting from when the original petition was filed, in this case June 3.
According to the USW’s latest filing, imports of China-made consumer tires “have increased 23% by value and 26% by volume.” In charts the USW included in the filing, it shows that the monthly average during the March-May period was 4.823 million such tires were imported, while the monthly average in the June-July period was 6.102 million.
It is suspected that any such sharp increases in tire imports may well be various manufacturers and marketers working to get as much China-produced inventory stateside before any tariffs or duties are instituted.
The 34-page petition asks that the Commerce Department “issue a preliminary affirmative determination of critical circumstances at the earliest practical time, but no later than the preliminary determination, which is currently scheduled for Nov. 21, 2014.”
– Tire Reviews
