US panel:Chinese Imports Hurting USTire Market
24 June 2009
A U.S. trade panel said on Thursday China was unfairly flooding the U.S. market with tires, the first step in a test case of how the Obama administration will handle trade disputes with Beijing.
In a 4-2 vote, the International Trade Commission found that a surge of low-cost tires from China had disrupted U.S. markets. Later this month, it will recommend a remedy to President Barack Obama. The United Steelworkers union has urged him to slap limits on Chinese tire imports.
The steelworkers' union argued that more than 5,100 U.S. workers lost jobs because of low-price Chinese tire imports, which increased 215 percent in volume from 2004 to 2008. The union said the surge of 46 million tires was worth $1.7 billion in 2008.
The union cited closings of U.S. plants by Goodyear, Continental Tire, and Bridgestone/Firestone, and said more closings are pending.
But lawyers representing Chinese tire producers said U.S. companies had already backed out of the low-range tire market before Chinese manufacturers moved in. They also noted that no U.S. tire producers had joined the steelworkers' complaint.
The trade commission is expected to recommend a remedy by the end of this month. A presidential decision is not due until September.
Source : internet
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