Indian tyres face anti-dumping probe in US

US-based tyre manufacturers have alleged injurious dumping and unfair subsidisation of imports from India and China

The Dollar Business Bureau 

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) is scheduled to make its preliminary injury determinations on or before February 22, 2016.

The US has initiated anti-dumping duty and countervailing duty investigations on imports of certain tyres from India, China and Sri Lanka.

The US Department of Commerce took this decision after domestic tyre manufacturers filed petitions to seek relief from the “market-distorting” effects caused by “injurious dumping and unfair subsidization” of imports from India and China into the US market. They requested the government to establish a level playing field in the domestic market.       

The investigations will cover certain new pneumatic off-the-road tyres with an off road tyre size designation. “The tyres included in the scope may be either tube-type1 or tubeless, radial, or non-radial, regardless of whether for original equipment manufacturers or the replacement market,” the US Department of Commerce said in its statement.

In 2014, imports of certain new pneumatic off-the-road tyres from China, India, and Sri Lanka were about $6.2 million, $167.3 million, and $16.8 million, respectively.  

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) is scheduled to make its preliminary injury determinations on or before February 22, 2016.

“If the ITC determines that there is a reasonable indication that imports of certain new pneumatic off the-road tyres from China, India, and Sri Lanka materially injured or threaten material injury to the domestic off road tyre industry, the investigations will continue, and Commerce will be scheduled to make its preliminary CVD determinations in April 2016 and its preliminary AD determinations in June 2016, unless the statutory deadlines are extended,” the statement said.

If the ITC’s preliminary determinations are negative, the investigations will be terminated.

However, some products which are covered under the existing anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders on certain new pneumatic off-the-road tyres, especially from China, will be excluded from the scope of investigation.

Other products such as passenger vehicle and light truck tyres, racing tyres, mobile home tyres, motorcycle tyres, all-terrain vehicle tyres, bicycle tires, on-road or on-highway trailer tyres, and truck and bus tyres will also be excluded from the scope of investigation. Because these tyres generally have in common that the symbol “DOT” must appear on the sidewall, certifying that the tyre conforms to applicable motor vehicle safety standards.

While Chinese tyres have faced anti-dumping investigation in past, this is for the first time that a probe has been launched on the tyres imported to the US from India.

China’s share of anti-dumping margin to the US is 11.20-77.69% while that of India is 11.77-76.45%.

February 06, 2016 | 04:30pm IST