Chinese team to lobby US against tire protectionism

Shanghai, August 4 (Gasgoo.com) A team of Chinese lobbyists has left for the United States to fight against proposals that would impose punitive measures on Chinese-made tires, state media outlet reports Tuesday.

The non-governmental team including members of the China Rubber Industry Association, as well as representatives of Chinese tire manufacturers, headed to the US yesterday for a week-long lobbying effort against a 55% tariff the U.S. International Trade Commission proposed to impose on Chinese imported tires.

The case is the first special protective measure ever against China since 2007, and also the largest of its kind by volume, involving $2.2 billion, the China Daily said.

Giti Tire, a joint venture and a leading tire exporter, has sent two representatives with the team. "The US proposal cannot hold any water. The plan, if Obama eventually agrees, will surely jeopardize our business, but cannot benefit theirs either. It's absolutely meaningless," said Shen Weijia, executive director of Giti Tire China.

Giti Tire exports tires worth $200 million, a majority of which goes to the US.

China's Ministry of Commerce said on Monday it hoped the U.S. government would listen to its own industries' advices and not impose protective measures on China-made tires.

The U.S. Tire Industry Association, the American Coalition for Free Trade in Tires, the American Automotive Trade Policy Council, and the Retail Industry Leaders Association have all expressed strong opposition to the planned moves.

Thomas J. Prusa, an economist from Rutgers University in New Jersey said in a report that "each job 'saved' by the ITC's tariffs would come at the cost of at least 12 jobs lost, and possibly more than 25. Most tire-related employment in America consists of the people who distribute and install tires, not people who produce them. By depressing tire sales, a tariff would jeopardize those jobs. "

What's more, he said Chinese imports come at the lower end of the price spectrum, where American producers have little interest in, or capacity for, making substitutes for the Chinese imports. A tariff-induced price rise would mainly hurt low-income American drivers.

U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to make a final decision on the issue before September 17, following an August 7 hearing.