Rubber Industry Association: China Should Take Further Measures

On September 5, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Appellate Body issued a decision on the Sino-U.S. tire trade dispute case in Geneva, and determined that the United States imposed a punitive tariff on Chinese-to-U.S. passenger tires in line with WTO rules. In this regard, the Chinese rubber industry believes that the WTO ruled that the United States is unfair to China's tire metrics compliance, and China should take further measures.

Cai Weimin, secretary general of the China Rubber Industry Association’s tire division, said that the US’s intention to use tires for Chinese passenger tires was to increase tire production in the United States and increase employment in the United States. However, actual results have been counterproductive. The amount of US tire imports not only has not decreased, but has also increased, and the employment rate has not improved. He said that after the implementation of the ** case, the United States’ demand for Chinese tires did not decline. It was because of the high tariffs that blocked Chinese tires, but the United States imported from South Korea, Japan, Mexico, and Southeast Asian countries. The number of tires has reached historically high levels.

Cai Weimin said that the current tire ** case has been implemented for two years, to September 26 this year, its tariff will be reduced from 35% to 25%, and only one year left. The WTO ruling has not affected the industry as much as it began. In recent years, the quality of China's export tires has continuously improved. Foreign consumers generally welcome Chinese tires, and Chinese tire companies have also successfully explored emerging markets in the past two years. The total tire export volume has remained moderate. Despite this, Cai Weimin still suggested that China should take further measures.

Deng Yazhao, executive vice president and secretary-general of the China Rubber Industry Association, said that further measures are taken to allow the international community and relevant organizations to recognize that developing countries like China should not be discriminated against, so as to strive for fairer trade opportunities for domestic enterprises. Make world trade more orderly, fair and more compliant.