CHINA IRE OVER US TYRE TARIFFS

       The decision by the US administration to impose tariffs on tyre imports from China will be a huge blow to the Chinese tyre producers and the Chinese government should take strong counter-measures against exports from America, an industry official said.
       "President [Barack] Obama has increased duties to all imports of passenger vehicle and light-truck tyres from China for a period of three years," the White House said in a statement on Friday.
       In addition to the existing duty of 4 per cent, tariffs will surge by a further 35 per cent in the first year, 30 per cent in the second and 25 per cent in the third. The tariffs will take effect any day before September 26.
       "The new tariffs will be highly damaging to China's tyre industry," said Fan Rende, chairman of China Rubber Industry Association, adding that Chinese tyre companies may not be able to export tyres to the US due to the unreasonably high tariff of 35 per cent starting from next year.
       "Obama's decision may affect the employment of 100,000 tyre workers in China and may bring an aggregated loss of $1 billion (Bt34.4 billion) to China's tyre exporters," Fan said.
       There are currently twenty tyre makers in China and four of them are from the US. He did not reveals the names of the four producers, but currently US tyre manufacturers, such as Bridhestone/Firestone, Goodyear, Michelin and Cooper have operations in China.
       Actually, the US had already ordered Chinese tyre companies to stop supplying tyres to the US, Fan said. "The order is effective immediately," he said.
       Fan urged the Chinese government to take countermeasures against US tariffs, especially on US exports of agricultural products and cars to China.
       "I believe we could find ample cases that are also in line with the WTO rule," he said.
       China Rubber Industry Association, China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals and Chemicals Importers and Exporters as well as some affected companies had already signed a complaint letter to President Obama.
       In addition, they are considering seeking justice from the United States Court of International Trade, Fan said.