USW Tells China to Stop Treading on U.S. Tire Makers

Chinese tire makers are treading on the U.S. tire industry, dumping more than 46 million low-cost tires into this country last year alone to be sold in stores like Wal-Mart, among others. The result, unfortunately, is all too familiar: Cheap imports = lost jobs and shattered communities.

The United Steelworkers (USW [1]), which represents most of the U.S. tire workers, is demanding that the Obama administration act forcefully to restore a balanced trading field. The union wants the administration to impose tough tariffs on Chinese tires for at least three years.

Last month, the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) ruled in favor of a USW petition filed under Section 421 of the Trade Act of 1974. The USITC found that tariff relief was needed to urgently reduce those tire imports. Evidence showed that more than 5,100 domestic consumer tire production jobs were lost between 2004 and 2008 by the flood of Chinese tire imports that undersold producers in the United States. Domestic tire companies have announced they will close more plants and eliminate another 3,000 jobs by the end of this year.

The USITC commissioners unanimously recommended that tariffs be placed across the board on passenger and light truck tires from China—55 percent in the first year, 45 percent in the second and 35 percent in the third.

USW President Leo Gerard told a public hearing earlier this month:

Our nation’s job loss numbers at tire factories dramatically understate the impact China’s flooding imports have caused in the communities where our represented workers live. The consequences of lost tire production jobs have extended to many thousands of other jobs in supporting industries and suppliers that have also been lost.

An interagency task force is reviewing the ITC recommendation and will report to President Obama on Sept. 2.

Gerard says the ITC recommendation will save jobs and help rekindle manufacturing during this recession.

These are hard-working men and women, many of whom have spent their entire adult careers in the industry. Their jobs provide the income, the health insurance, and the retirement benefits that sustain middle class families and stabilize entire communities. These workers can make as many tires, and whatever kinds of tires, the market demands. But these workers cannot compete when the market is being overwhelmed by a massive flood of tires from China. In short, the industry is at a turning point, and relief will determine its future.

The UAW and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) also have written Obama in support of the USITC recommendation. Click here to read UAW’s letter [2] and here for the CWA letter. [3]

The USW is gaining strong support from Congress. A group of 11 bipartisan U.S. senators, led by Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), sent a letter to Obama calling for adoption of the USITC’s recommendations. They wrote:

Across the country, Americans are increasingly frustrated with the impacts of unfair trade practices on working families. The Section 421 case is an important test case in that regard and an important step in regaining the public’s confidence in trade liberalization.

Click here to read the senators’ letter. [4]

Other signers include Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Robert Casey (D-Pa.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.).

Research by the USW shows that between 2004 and 2008, the domestic tire industry has suffered massive injury. Capacity by the tire companies is down 17.8 percent, and production is down by 26.6 percent. Employment has been reduced by 14.2 percent along with reductions in hours worked and wages paid. Net domestic sales were down 28 percent.

Click here for more background and information [5] about the USW’s 421 filing and the USITC recommendation.

Cross-posted from the AFL-CIO Blog [6].