Tire sanction to cost both Chinese, American jobs

Chinese tire producers, who are facing proposed sanctionative tariffs from the U.S. authorities, appeal for "fair ruling" from the U.S. government, a Chinese tire industry representatives told Xinhua in an interview on Wednesday.

"The proposed sanction against Chinese tire export to the U.S. market will cause a lose-lose situation on both countries," said Mary Xu, deputy secretary general of the China Rubber Industry Association and the leading member of a Chinese tire producers delegation in Washington.

"We have filed much evidence demonstrating that Chinese tire imports do not injure the U.S. tire industry. The restriction of the Chinese tires cannot solve any problem faced by the U.S. tire industry, and further would hurt U.S. tire distributors and consumers," the delegation said in a letter to the U.S. President Barack Obama before a government hearing on this issue on Friday.

The U.S. Steelworkers union, which represents workers at major U.S. tire manufacturers, filed a petition against China earlier this year for import relief and won a favorable ruling from the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC).

The panel recommended Obama impose a 55 percent tariff on the Chinese tire imports which would be reduced to 45 percent in the second year and 35 percent in the third before being removed.

The steelworkers asked for protection under Section 421 of U.S. trade law, which only requires petitioners to show that imports from China have disrupted the U.S. market.

"Chinese tires are welcomed by the American consumers who believe that our products have good cost performance," Xu said. "Chinese tires are relatively lower ended and mainly for the replacement of tires. The U.S. tire makers do not produce these types of tires. So our tires are complementary, not competitive to the U.S. products."

Xu said that the tariffs will hurt the American consumers and cause job loss as well.