The US International Trade Administration (ITA) has imposed a 15.7% countervailing duty on tires exported from China, forcing Taiwanese tire-making companies to export to the US from factories located in other countries, reports our Chinese-language sister newspaper Commercial Times.
The US will trace back the taxes of the tires back to those exported in September, and this new countervailing duty will be effective for five years.
Spokespersons for Taiwan's Cheng Hsin Tire and Kenda Tires said that the companies will export tires from their factories in Taiwan and Thailand.
A spokesperson from Kenda said that once the countervailing duty becomes effective, tire importers in the US will also buy tires from countries other than China. Tire prices in the US have increased as well, and exporting from Taiwan and Thailand would benefit Taiwanese tire makers even more.
The ITA will announce its new anti-dumping policy on China-made tires in January 2015. An expected 80 to 100 tire makers in China, including Taiwanese and foreign tire brands, will be impacted by the new policy.
This new countervailing duty policy will be effective until September 2018.
Shandong Yongsheng Rubber Group has been slapped with an 81.29% countervailing duty because it refused to cooperate with the ITA's inquiries, giving it the highest duty out of any company exporting from China.
Kenda's factory in Kunshan produces 26,000 tires a day. It will focus on selling tires in China, the Middle East and North Africa instead of exporting to the US.
Cheng Hsin said that did not have a great percentage of US exports in the first place, and that production from its factories in Taiwan's Yuanlin and Douliu will suffice. Cheng Hsin's factory in Thailand produces 30,000 tires a day. Its factories in China produce 80,000 tires a day, and 80% of them are sold in the domestic market.
