US begins anti-dumping probe into Vietnamese tires

By Dat Nguyen June 25, 2020 | 12:37 am PT

Car tires on display in a shop. Photo by Shutterstock/Zigmunds Dizgalvis.

The U.S. has initiated an anti-dumping investigation into passenger vehicle and light truck tires from Vietnam and three other economies.

Products from Vietnam have a dumping margin of 5.48-22.3 percent, the U.S. Department of Commerce said in a statement, referring to the estimated difference between the normal value and export price of a product.

The U.S. also suspects that Vietnam has provided a subsidy of above the allowed rate of 2 percent for its tires.

U.S. data shows that imports of Vietnamese tires rose 34 percent from 2017 to $470 million last year.

The three other economies the U.S. is investigating are South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand, and it said their dumping margins are 42.95-217.5 percent.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade had warned local tire producers in July last year of the high possibility of being investigated due to their burgeoning exports.

Vietnamese tires are exported to 153 markets, with the U.S. being the largest buyer, accounting for 50 percent of exports, followed by Japan, Malaysia and Germany, the ministry said.

There is a rising number of cases for trade remedies by other countries against Vietnamese goods, it said, adding that in the first half of this year, it had to deal with 176 of them.