Titan Tire/U.S. Gov.: Chinese OTR tire producers continue to sell for less-than-fair value in the U.S. market

Titan International Inc. announced that last week the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) released the final results of its review of imports of off-the-road (OTR) tires from China for the 2014-2015 time period (dumping order) and 2014 (countervailing duty order). These results show that the Chinese government has increased the level of subsidies provided to Chinese OTR tire producers and that they have continued to sell for less-than-fair value in the U.S. market.

The DOC’s issuance of these results updates the level of duties that are imposed on OTR tire imports to counteract the most recent levels of subsidization and dumping identified by the DOC. The identified levels of subsidization have increased dramatically since they were last analyzed by the DOC. Specifically, the DOC found subsidy levels, which previously ranged from 2.52 to 5.65 percent, to be 34.46 to 46.01 percent in the recent review. The DOC has also continued to find that the Chinese producers are selling at significant amounts below their costs.

The DOC found in the dumping review that OTR tires produced by major Chinese producers were sold in the U.S. at levels below fair value ranging from 33.05 to 105.31 percent. The practical effect of these findings is two-fold. For entries of merchandise that were covered by the reviews, the DOC will issue liquidation instructions for Customs to assess duties equal to the amount finally found (subject to any judicial review); if more than the cash deposits posted at the time of entry, importers are liable for the difference plus interest from the date of entry.

Moreover, when the determinations are published in the Federal Register in the coming days, the DOC will provide instructions to U.S. Customs to collect cash deposits on incoming entries from China reflecting the final rates found in this latest completed review.

Under U.S. laws, the DOC will, if requested, periodically review the level of dumping and/or subsidization under any existing countervailing duty or antidumping duty order. The existing OTR tire orders were put into place as the result of Petitions filed by Titan and the United Steelworkers (USW).

Maurice Taylor, Titan’s Chairman, remarked that, “We thank the government agencies involved for their diligence in pursuing these reviews. These results confirm that imports of OTR tires from China continue to be subsidized and dumped and harm U.S. producers of OTR tires in the U.S. marketplace. I believe Titan will see a positive impact in our aftermarket business as a result of these determinations. On behalf of our shareholders and workers, we are pleased that the U.S. government’s investigations have confirmed what we are seeing in the U.S. marketplace.”

Paul Reitz, Titan’s President and CEO said that, “These results confirm our belief that the levels of government subsidization had significantly increased and that the amount of dumping has continued. The continued monitoring by the DOC of these orders and the imposition of accurate amounts of countervailing and antidumping duties is an important step in restoring conditions of fair trade. We will continue to work with the DOC to ensure that any and all subsidization and dumping by Chinese producers is met by appropriate duty levels. We have been fighting and will continue to fight against the unfair trade practices of any U.S. trading partners.”

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