Commerce finds subsidies in off-the-road tires from India, Sri Lanka

The Commerce Department has preliminarily determined that imports of certain pneumatic off-the-road tires from India and Sri Lanka receive governmental subsidies, placing U.S. manufacturers of these tires in an unfair position in the market.    The Commerce Department has preliminarily determined that imports of certain pneumatic off-the-road tires from India and Sri Lanka receive governmental subsidies, placing U.S. manufacturers of these tires in an unfair position in the market.
   Countervailable subsidies financial assistance from a foreign government that benefits the production of goods from foreign companies and is limited to specific industries, or are contingent either upon export performance or upon the use of domestic goods over imported goods.
   Pneumatic off-the-road tires are primarily used for heavy construction equipment.
   In Commerce’s India investigation, it calculated a preliminary subsidy rate of 4.7 percent for Balkrishna Industries Ltd. and a 7.64 percent subsidy rate for ATC Tires Private Ltd. All other producers/exporters in India have been assigned a preliminary subsidy rate of 6.17 percent.
   For Sri Lanka, Commerce calculated a preliminary subsidy rate of 2.9 percent for Camso Loadstar. All other producers/exporters in Sri Lanka have been assigned a preliminary subsidy rate of 2.9 percent.
   Commerce said it “preliminary found that critical circumstances exist with respect to certain exporters from India and Sri Lanka. Where critical circumstances were found, CBP will be instructed to impose provisional measures retroactively on entries of certain new pneumatic off-the-road tires effective 90 days prior to publication of the preliminary determinations in the Federal Register.”
   The petitioners for the Commerce investigations include Titan Tire Corp. of Iowa and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union in Pennsylvania.
   In 2014, imports of pneumatic off-the-road tires from India and Sri Lanka were valued at about $167.3 million and $76.8 million, respectively.
   Commerce is expected to announce its final determinations by Oct. 28. If Commerce makes affirmative final determinations, and the U.S. International Trade Commission makes affirmative final determinations that these imports from India and Sri Lanka harm domestic industry, Commerce will issue countervailing duty orders. If either Commerce’s or the ITC’s final determinations are negative, no countervailing duty orders will be issued.