US reduces import duties on Chinese tires

Tire Business reports that the US Department of Commerce has reduced the pending countervailing duty rate on passenger and light truck tires imported from China from 15.69% to 12.03%, or nearly 3.7 percentage points. Commerce attributed the reduction to “significant ministerial errors” in the way it calculated certain sales denominators.

This rate will apply to all but a few excepted manufacturers. Among excepted suppliers, the rate applied to Giti Tire (Fujian) Co. Ltd. and “certain cross-owned” companies will be lowered to 11.74% from 17.69%, a reduction of 5.95 percentage points. The revisions will not apply to Cooper Kunshan Tire Co. Ltd. or Shandong Yongsheng Rubber Group Co. Ltd., which were levied duty rates of 12.5% and 81.29%, respectively. In addition to the countervailing duties, all imported tires are subject to the prevailing 4% import tariff.