Sailun Tire Corp. is waiting to see the U.S. Department of Commerce’s decision on the USW’s antidumping and countervailing duty complaint against Chinese-made tires before it makes actions regarding potential tariffs, the tiremaker told Tire Review.
“We’re not making any actions, we’re just going to see what happens,” said Brian Mielko, vice president of sales for Sailun in the U.S. “Phase 1 will be announced in November about the official tariff, when we find that out we’ll understand how that impacts our business. The next step would be in January, and then we’ll see how that impacts our business. “
Mielko said Sailun makes great value products in China and will continue to “build good product in China and Vietnam.”
Sailun Tire Corp. has three plants currently producing roughly 30 million tires a year, Mielko said. Two of its plants are located in China, Qingdao and Shenyang, while a third is located in Vietnam.
Mielko did note that it would make sense to shift some North American production to its Vietnam plant if tariffs are instated.
“What can’t happen overnight is a massive shift. There’s not capacity outside of China to satisfy the market,” he said. “Product will still have to be made in China in the short term and in the long term we’ll see what happens.”
Recently, the USW petitioned and received an extension for the preliminary determination on its antidumping and countervailing duty complaint. The extension moves the due date for a preliminary determination by the Commerce Department from Sept. 17 back to Nov. 21.
