WTO Backs U.S. on Chinese Tire Tariffs

The World Trade Organization rejected China’s complaint that U.S. tariffs on Chinese car and light-truck tires violate global trade rules, Bloomberg reported.

President Obama announced the three-year duties on $1.8 billion worth of Chinese tires in September 2009, acting on a complaint by the United Steelworkers union, which represents 15,000 employees at 13 U.S. tire plants.

The union said Chinese tire exports to the U.S. tripled from 2001 to 2004 to 41 million and called for a cap on annual imports of 21 million, Bloomberg reported.

The WTO said the Obama administration “did not fail to comply with its obligations.”

China criticized the tire tariffs as “protectionist” and said it may appeal the WTO decision. Its government called the tariffs a “serious case of trade protectionism, which China resolutely opposes.”

The case was the largest so-called safeguard petition filed to protect U.S. producers from growing imports from China, Bloomberg reported.