China Daily quoted the Ministry of Commerce said China strongly opposes US President Mr Barack Obama decision to introduce punitive tariffs on tire imports from China and may refer the case to the World Trade Organization.
The ministry said in a statement citing spokesman Mr Yao Jian that the imposition of the new tariffs not only violated rules of the WTO but also runs against the commitments made by the US at the Group of 20 summits.
He said that “The move will harm both countries interests and could trigger a damaging chain reaction of trade protectionism, slowing world economic recovery. China will reserve all legitimate rights including referring the case to the WTO.”
MOFCOM said in the statement that the curb would only boost costs for consumer, cause US wholesalers and retailer to scramble to find other suppliers and not create any new tire manufacturing jobs in the US.
The MOFCOM statement said "Actually Chinese tire producers poses no direct competition to those produced in the US. China tire exports are mainly supplied to the automobile maintenance market in the US, while those made by local producers are supplied to the car producers.”
MOFCOM said four US companies have operations in tire production in China and they account for two thirds of exports to the US and the tariffs will have a direct impact on these companies.
The White House said in a statement that President Mr Obama signed a determination to apply an increased duty to all imports of passenger vehicle and light truck tires from China for a period of three years. In addition to the existing duties of four percent, tariffs will surge by a further 35% in the first year, 30% in the second and 25% in the third. The tariffs will take effect in any day before September 26th.
The United States International Trade Commission had proposed tariffs of up to 55% on Chinese passenger and light truck tires, based on a petition led by the United Steelworkers Union that said tire imports had tripled since 2004, bring plants to closure and forcing people out of employment.
(Sourced from Chinadaily)
