Rubber & Plastics News reports that the US International Trade Commission has moved into the final phase of its investigation into potential dumping of Chinese passenger car and light truck tires into the United States. On August 21, the ITC announced a finding that the US tire industry has been “materially injured or threatened with material injury” due to the imports. Based on the finding, the ITC may impose countervailing and/or anti-dumping duties on Chinese tires and/or against individual Chinese tire makers. The US Department of Commerce began its investigation on July 21, 2014 in response to petitions submitted to the ITC on June 3 by the United Steelworkers union. The Obama administration previously imposed import tariffs against Chinese tire tires in September 2009, but the higher duties were allowed to expire in September 2012.