Britain may raise tariffs on Chinese tires

The UK's Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) has released preliminary findings of its review of the need for anti-dumping and countervailing duties on imports of truck and bus tires from China, and has recommended increasing tariffs for most Chinese exporters to protect the UK's tire retreading industry, according to a statement on the government's website.

According to the British Tyre Manufacturers Association (BTMA), tire retreading generates around £230 million for the UK economy each year and employs 5,500 people. The TRA noted that it had examined the validity of the view that historically, many Chinese tires supplied to the UK have been of poor quality and "non-retreadable", and added that if the additional duties were to be lifted, imports of low-quality tires would increase and harm the UK industry and the environment.

For this reason, the TRA has recommended setting new rates of anti-dumping and countervailing duties ranging from £10.03 per tire for Hankook, which cooperated with the authority, to £110.11 per tire for other suppliers.

Before the UK left the EU, trade remedies were set by the European Commission. Following Brexit, the EC's decisions were incorporated into UK law, and the TRA is now assessing each of them to determine whether they are beneficial to the local industry.