Xiamen tires stop selling to the United States

The WTO ruled that the United States did not violate the regulations on China's tires on the tires. As the New Year approached, the tire companies in Xiamen faced a bad news. On Monday, the WTO's dispute settlement body ruled that the United States imposed punitive tariffs on tires imported from China and did not violate relevant regulations. China lost the case in the special tire insurance program for the United States.

According to a recent investigation by the reporter, the Xiamen tire company has almost stopped exporting to the United States under the influence of the “Special Safeguards for American Tires.”

The Ministry of Commerce stated that it will file an appeal. The United States tire export was once one of the operations of Xiamen Jianfa's import and export department. The annual export amount is several million US dollars. However, since September last year when the United States imposed punitive tariffs, Xiamen Jianfa suspended the export business.

On September 11, 2009, US President Barack Obama announced a punitive tariff of up to 35% on tires imported from China for a period of three years. The products involved were small cars and light truck tires imported from China. The reason is that the large number of imported tires from China has harmed the interests of local tire companies.

Following the “special security case” for US tires, more than a dozen countries such as Brazil and India have also launched disasters. China’s tire exports have been severely hampered.

On September 14, 2009, the Chinese government officially initiated the WTO dispute settlement procedure for the United States to restrict special measures for importing Chinese tires. The United States proposed that the number of imported tires in China from 2004 to 2008 increased rapidly, resulting in a decline in the US tire industry and the loss of jobs. The WTO ruling found this claim to be true.

According to regulations, both China and the United States can appeal this ruling within 60 days. China’s Ministry of Commerce said on the 14th of this month that the US’s special protection measures for Chinese tires are trade protectionist measures adopted to shift domestic political pressure. Facts have proved that the special safeguard measures are neither in the interests of the Chinese side nor bring benefits to the United States. China will appeal at the right time to maximize the maintenance of the legitimate rights and interests of China's tire industry.

Some Xiamen enterprises suspended the first case of dispute settlement over the past 60 years since the establishment of the WTO. Sino-U.S. tire disputes have received widespread attention from the Chinese tire industry, including Xiamen companies.

"After the United States imposed punitive tariffs on Chinese imports of tires, it caused a deep shock in the entire Chinese industry." According to Xiamen industry sources, some Fujian tire companies suffered heavy losses. “There is a tire company in Putian, 60%-70% of its products are exported to the United States, and now this Putian company is at stake.”

“Comparatively, the 'tyre special protection case' has had little impact on Xiamen companies.” Lin Fushan, president of Xiamen Rubber & Plastics Chamber of Commerce's rubber branch, said yesterday: In the US tire trade, the export volume of C&D was Xiamen is relatively large, but the export amount of several million dollars per year in the sub-region is insignificant in the total amount of import and export trade.

Xiamen Zhengxin Tire said that Zhengxin is mainly exporting to the EU and is not affected by this special security case.

“Actually, this news has been digested in advance and now basically has no effect on the entire industry.” Analysis of rubber investment consultant Zhao Yongliang of the Xiamen Rubber and Rubber Industry Chamber of Commerce Analyst: At present, the domestic auto market is booming, tire demand is increasing, many of the original export-oriented Tire companies have diverted their domestic trade, especially after the "U.S. tire special security case."

“In the past two years, the price of tires has been rising. There is no reduction in the middle,” Zhao Yongliang said.