WTO upholds tire tariff
The Washingtington Post notes:
The World Trade Organization has upheld the stiff duties that President Obama imposed on car tires imported from China last year, an important victory released on the eve of trade talks between the two countries.
A panel at the Geneva-based trade group on Monday said it agreed that the United States was justified in slapping a 35 percent tax on Chinese tires under WTO provisions that let countries protect local industries and workers from sharp increases in Chinese imports.
The provision was part of the agreement under which China joined the WTO a decade ago. Chinese tire imports to the United States tripled between 2004 and 2008, to 46 million tires worth an estimated $1.7 billion.
Update: Ken Houghton reminds me of Tom Bozzo’s September, 2009 post Travels of a cheap tire in global economy covering part of the issue.
Update two: WTO panel report on the tires dispute linked.
Erm, why is it a victory when the government makes every American pay more for their tyres?
Try Tom’s post. That is one answer.
The framing of these things keeps changing depending on writer and gets confused about which agenda is being advertised.
Is my memory so screwed up that I recall the signing of so called “Free Trade” agreements were one sided? It seems to me, that everytime one of these are signed, the Government gives away the keys to the store in return for what? Granted, many old production sources were closed down, which they should have been before hand, but this whole thing with the WTO and such, the U.S. got the short end of the stick. Unless I’m wrong here, it was the U.S. that helped rebuild the destruction of W.W.II, then got slapped silly by those same countries for doing so. Seems like this is the result of the WTO feeling guilty after allowing the rest of the World having cleaned out the store, so they give the U.S. a bunch of Bananas.
Here’s the WTO panel report on the tires dispute:
http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news10_e/399r_e.htm
Read the WTO panel report.
http://www.spitzos.com
Making tires is not a simple process. Even Firestone and Goodyear, who have been doing it domestically for decades have had their problems – hence the Ford problem of a few yeares ago and the TREAD act.
Chinese manufacturers simply cannot be trusted to make critical automotive safety compnents. I tell you this from my own direct professional experience.
Cheers!
JzB
No, sorry, I’m still not getting it.
Why is it a “victory” to make tens of millions of Americans pay more for their purchases? Why is it a victory to make tens of millions of Americans poorer?