Hare Testifies Before the International Trade Commission in Support of Titan and Steelworkers Petition to Take Action on Chinese Tire Dumping

Press Release

Hare Testifies Before the International Trade Commission in Support of Titan and Steelworkers Petition to Take Action on Chinese Tire Dumping

Congressman Phil Hare (D-IL), a member of the House Trade Working Group, today testified before the International Trade Commission in support of the Titan Tire Corporation and United Steelworkers' (USW) petition for trade remedies that will provide relief to the domestic tire industry from illegally dumped and subsidized Chinese off-the-road (OTR) tires.

Last summer, the International Trade Commission (ITC) preliminarily determined that the domestic tire industry is being materially injured by these dumped and subsidized imports from China. In August, the ITC is expected to make a final determination.

"Unfair trade practices by the Chinese government are costing my district jobs and harming our already fragile local economy," Hare said. "I was proud to stand up today for the livelihood of this Quincy-based company and every single one of its workers."

Last year, the Department of Commerce preliminarily determined that the Chinese government was unfairly subsidizing Chinese tire producers up to over 20%. Similarly, early this year, Commerce made a preliminary affirmative decision that Chinese tire producers were dumping below-cost product into the U.S. market and earning margins ranging from nearly 10% to 210%.

"When the Chinese government tilts the playing field in such an egregious way, honest, hard-working Americans cannot compete," Hare said. "Titan and the Steelworkers aren't asking for a handout. All they want is a fair shot."

According to the latest CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, 51 percent of Americans view foreign trade as a threat to the economy—the first time in a CNN poll that a majority of Americans report holding negative views on free trade. That compares with only 35 percent of Americans who felt free trade posed a threat to the economy in 2000, and 48 percent who felt it was a threat in 2006. "The American people are way ahead of us on this issue," Hare said. "They support fair trade—but they understand all too well that our current broken trade policies are threatening their economic security."

Reps. Donald Manzullo (R-IL), Leonard Boswell (D-IA), and Lincoln Davis (D-TN) also testified on behalf of Titan and USW's petition. The U.S. has lost 3 million manufacturing jobs since 2000. Our trade deficit with China is now over $250 billion.

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