ITC to Probe Illegally Dumped Foreign Tires
By a 6-0 vote on July 22, the U.S. International Trade Commission decided the Steelworkers have made the case that China is – again – illegally dumping car and truck tires in the U.S.
The panel voted to open its own probe of the practice, saying USW had shown enough evidence of the negative impact on its tire workers – members of the former Rubber Workers -- and the industry to warrant its own investigation.
Steelworker leaders hailed the commission's ruling, based on a recommendation from the Obama administration's Commerce Department, which also proposed tariffs on the tires if the Chinese are guilty of the dumping.
But USW International President Leo Gerard also used the ruling to reiterate his call for up-to-date trade rules, redesigned to stop such dumping before it starts. The USW leads both U.S. unions and U.S. business in researching and filing unfair trade complaints, he explained – and that's an unwelcome badge of honor.
That's because workers and firms must wait until dumped imports hurt businesses and cost workers jobs before they can go to the feds, as USW has in the China tires case. And by the time a decision occurs, the plants may be shut down and the workers jobless, he adds.
“We’re waging a fight against unfair trade based on rules that are more than a quarter century old, while our competitors target industry after industry. Things must change. Workers, and America, can’t afford much more of this,” Gerard says.
Democratic President Barack Obama imposed tariffs on Chinese tires for three years, using another section of trade law, after USW's petition in 2009. That let the industry recover somewhat, Gerard said. But when those tariffs ended, dumped Chinese tires to the U.S. rose again. The union's fact sheet shows Chinese tire imports rose from 31.5 million in 2012 to 50.8 million last year.
“There is massive dumping of Chinese tires on the U.S. market, with estimated dumping margins ranging as high as 92 percent. Publicly available price information from tire retailers indicates Chinese tires are undercutting U.S. tires by margins of 12 to 40 percent,” the fact sheet says. It also says domestic tire manufacturers – many of them with USW contracts – saw market share fall from 47 percent to 40 percent in one year.
“China’s targeting of our industry injured our members,” said union Secretary-Treasurer Stan Johnson. “They work hard and play by the rules and all they want is a fair chance to compete. They deserve to have our nation’s trade laws aggressively and faithfully enforced.”
USW Vice President Tom Conway, whose USW sector represents the tire workers, said “China’s leaders aren’t interested in following the rules of international trade – they’re only interested in a win-at-any-cost, play-by-any-rules trade policy.”
