Shandong Province, home to about 70 tyre manufacturers, would be seriously impacted if U.S. anti-dumping tariffs are passed, according to Fang Xiaojie, head of the fair trade division of the Department of Commerce of Shandong Province.
In 2013 Shandong exported $1.7 billion worth of tyre-related products to the U.S., accounting for 51 percent of the country’s total, Mr. Xiaojie said.
“Although the new tariffs would cause great damage with almost doubled export price to the U.S., it’s unlikely to lead to many closedowns,” Mr. Xiaojie said.
“A majority of relevant companies still focus on the domestic market and also have export business to Africa and the Middle East.”
The China Rubber Industry Association declined to comment on the anti-dumping investigation.
The International Trade Commission (ITC) voted on July 21 to continue an antidumping and countervailing duty investigation against passenger and light truck tyre imports from China, sending the case into its next phase.
The ITC vote came exactly one week after the US Department of Commerce decision to initiate the investigation, which was instigated by petitions submitted June 3 to the ITC by the United Steelworkers (USW) union.
The next move in the case—a preliminary determination on the amount of Chinese government subsidies in the countervailing duty investigation—is due from the Commerce Department on or before Sept. 17.