Obama Enforces Trade Laws on China Tire Imports
President Obama took decisive action yesterday to provide relief to the domestic consumer tire industry in response to surging exports of tires from China. His actions will bring relief to many workers and their families and reverse course after eight years of neglect of trade laws by the Bush administration.
In July, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled in favor of a United Steelworkers (USW) petition filed under Section 421 of the Trade Act of 1974. The ITC found that tariff relief was needed to urgently reduce the negative impact of those tire imports. Obama’s decision imposes an increased duty on tires from China for three years. The duties are 35 percent in the first year, then 30 percent and 25 percent in each of the following years.
