China's tire industry plays an important role in the world. At present, China is in the critical period of transformation from a large tire country to a powerful country. For this reason, from the "double reverse" of off-road tires in 2007 to the "special protection" of passenger car and light truck tires in 2009, and now to the "double reverse" of passenger car and light truck tires, the intention of the United States to press step by step and block China's tire industry in an all-round way has become clear.
On June 3, 2014, the American Federation of steelworkers launched an anti-dumping and countervailing investigation on the tires of passenger cars and light trucks exported to the United States. On January 21, 2015, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced the preliminary anti-dumping determination results. The preliminary determination tax rate was as high as 30.46% ~ 100.02%. Except for a few enterprises, most Chinese tire enterprises were ruled with a tax rate as high as 100.02%, which is tantamount to closing the door of the U.S. market.
China is a big country in the world rubber industry and the largest tire producer and exporter in the world. The annual export volume of automobile tires (excluding off-road tires) exceeds 5 million tons, with an export amount of 14.5 billion US dollars. Among them, the United States is the largest market for China's tire exports, accounting for 30% of the total exports.
Affected by the "double reverse" case of American tires, the inventory of Chinese tire enterprises has increased sharply in the past six months, and the operating rate has dropped sharply from 90% before the case to about 55%. The production and operation of tires and upstream and downstream enterprises are facing great pressure. There are more than 200 tire enterprises involved in this case, involving an amount of US $3.37 billion. Recently, the enterprises involved have gone bankrupt, which may further trigger a chain reaction. The employment problem of 350000 tire workers in China is worrying.
In addition, as the tire industry is the leader of the rubber industry, its operation also directly affects many supporting industries in the upstream and downstream. It is conservatively estimated that the livelihood of more than 1 million industrial workers in the upstream and downstream will be affected. This grim situation must attract the attention of the state.
In fact, the preliminary determination of "double anti" of American tires has seriously violated the relevant provisions of the WTO Anti-Dumping Agreement. Under the pretext that China is a "non market economy country", the United States and other western countries have always implemented "separate tax rate test" and "separate ruling test" on China. If the country does not come out in time to counter this practice of the United States, the U.S. crackdown on China's tire industry may be replicated in other industries and produce an extremely bad demonstration effect all over the world. The unfair treatment given by the United States to Chinese state-owned enterprises will also have a domino effect.
At the same time, the filing and investigation of "double anti" cases in the United States are extremely unfair. The applicant of this case is the United Steelworkers' Federation of America, and none of the American tire enterprises has joined the appeal against the "double reverse" case of Chinese tires, indicating that the American tire enterprises do not believe that they have suffered damage or threat of damage from imported Chinese tires; The "double reverse" was launched during the historical profit peak period of the U.S. tire industry (the profit from 2011 to 2013 was US $3.88 billion), indicating that China's export of tires did not affect the profits of U.S. manufacturers.
According to the import data of the United States, the number of tires involved in its import from other countries is much higher than that from China. In 2013 alone, the number of tires involved in its import from other countries was 2.3 times that from China. This shows that American tire manufacturers are not affected by Chinese tires exported to the United States.
In view of the current situation, it is suggested that the Ministry of Commerce of China effectively communicate with the Ministry of Commerce of the United States before the final determination of the United States International Trade Commission on July 10, so as to strive for better results in the final determination. The attitude and consultation of the Chinese government play an important role in the final outcome of the "double anti" case. The Chinese government can even take necessary and strong countermeasures against the United States to force it to change the preliminary result.
