US ITC Final Ruling: "Korean Tire Dumping Sales Harm US Industry"

[Photo by AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) on the 23rd (local time) made a final determination that the dumping sales of Korean passenger car and light truck tires have caused injury to U.S. industry, according to major foreign media reports on the same day. The ITC also ruled that passenger car and light truck tires from Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam, along with Korea, have caused injury to U.S. industry.

Accordingly, the Department of Commerce is expected to impose anti-dumping duties on tire imports from Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand, and countervailing duties on tire imports from Vietnam.

The U.S. imposition of anti-dumping duties is carried out after the Department of Commerce's final determination and the ITC's final injury determination.

Last month on the 24th, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that it conducted an anti-dumping duty investigation on tires from Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam, calculating an anti-dumping rate of 14.72% to 27.05% for Korea.

This ITC ruling follows a complaint filed last year by the United Steelworkers (USW). In May of last year, USW filed a complaint with the Department of Commerce and ITC, claiming that Asian tires were being sold in the U.S. below fair value. The ITC conducted investigations on anti-dumping and countervailing duties, with Korea being subject only to the anti-dumping investigation.

In the case of Vietnam, the Department of Commerce's final determination in May recognized subsidies through currency undervaluation. This is the first case to apply the regulation established in February 2020, where the Department of Commerce considers foreign government currency intervention as an unfair subsidy and applies countervailing duties.

According to USW, the U.S. imported $4.4 billion worth of tires from four countries including Korea and Taiwan in 2020 (approximately 5 trillion KRW), with imports increasing by 20% since 2017, and 85.3 million tires imported in 2019. USW previously filed a complaint against Chinese tires in 2015, significantly reducing imports.

USW includes workers from Michelin, Goodyear, Cooper, and other factories located in Ohio, Arkansas, North Carolina, Kansas, Indiana, and other U.S. states.