GM, Ford oppose tariffs on Chinese tire imports

General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. lobbied President Barack Obama to exempt tires for new cars from proposed tariffs on Chinese imports, a request the United Steelworkers union president called "offensive."

Such duties would raise the costs of new cars and trucks by as much as $150, the automakers said in a filing, as a trade panel considered today a union request for tariffs on $1.7 billion of Chinese tire imports.

The case is an early test of whether Obama will reverse the record of former President George W. Bush, who rejected requests for tariffs and quotas on Chinese imports. After independent agencies screen such petitions, the president makes the decision. Obama has a deadline of Sept. 17 to decide whether to impose the duties on Chinese tires.

Obama pledged in June to avoid "sending any protectionist signals." His administration also has vowed to take a harder line on overseas trade barriers and beef up trade enforcement.

"President Obama has promised something different, and now is the time to deliver on that promise," Steelworkers union President Leo Gerard said at today's hearing by the U.S. Trade Representative. The tire imports put U.S. union jobs at risk, and auto companies that received billions of dollars in government aid shouldn't be intervening, he said.

"I find it offensive that the U.S. automakers, which just had their industry saved, will be here speaking against us," said Gerard, whose union represents workers at tire plants.

The automakers said in their petition that exempting from tariffs the 5 percent of Chinese imports that go on new cars would have a "minimal impact on the overall import relief."

Goodyear, Cooper

"It's a very small carve out," Charles Uthus, vice president of the Automotive Trade Policy Council, which represents GM, Ford and Chrysler Group LLC, said in an interview before his testimony. The auto bailouts for GM and Chrysler are "unrelated" to the tire issue, he said.

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