Portman Offers Support to USW & Ohio Tire Workers in ITC Testimony

Statement

Today, U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio), a former U.S. Trade Representative, submitted testimony to the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) to support the United Steelworkers' (USW) trade enforcement case on passenger vehicle and light truck tires imported from China. Portman writes that, "The increases in Chinese imports came at the direct expense of our domestic tire industry." He urges a close examination of the case to help level the playing field for Ohio tire workers to compete and win.

Portman got involved with this case after meeting with USW workers from Cooper Tire in Findlay earlier this year to discuss the challenges posed by imported Chinese tires that violate trade laws. Following that meeting, Portman sent a letter in February to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce urging the Administration to closely study this case.

"We applaud the support of Senator Portman on the tire tariffs along with Senator Sherrod Brown," said USW Local 207L President Rod Nelson. "It just goes to show you, at least in Ohio, our elected senators have got the back of their constituents and will fight to level the playing field for the hard working people in their state. This sends a message to China; if you don't play by the international trade rules then you will be punished until you do. American workers can compete with anybody anywhere in the world as long as the competition remains fair and follows the rules. Thanks to Senator Portman for sticking up for the hard working people at the Cooper Tire plant in Findlay, Ohio."

Portman has a long record of standing up for Ohio workers impacted by illegally subsidized and undersold imports. He has worked hand-in-hand with Ohio workers who manufacture pipe and tube products, hot-rolled steel, rebar and other products. Portman and U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) led the charge on a bipartisan measure that passed the Senate last month to allow American workers to more easily get relief from these illegal trade practices.

Excerpts of Portman's testimony are below, and the full text can be found here.

"…I have seen firsthand how important our trade remedy laws are. As we seek to expand trade with countries all over the globe, it is all the more vital that we ensure this increased trade takes place on terms that comply with international rules and national laws. We must take advantage of the opportunities that closer trade ties can provide, but we must also guard against the threat that unchecked unfair trade practices may create false advantages, distort markets, and harm our domestic industries and workers. For more open trade to work, it must be governed by rules and those rules must be enforced.

"The Department of Commerce has preliminarily found that Chinese producers have dumped tires in the U.S. market at margins ranging from 19.17 percent to 87.99 percent, and these Chinese producers benefit from generous government subsidies at margins ranging from 11.74 percent to 81.29 percent. These unfair practices--selling below costs and government subsidies--have made it possible for Chinese producers to consistently and deeply undercut U.S. tires to the detriment of American workers.

"The fate of the tire industry is very important to my state. Ohio has a long and proud history in the tire and rubber industry. Goodyear Tire & Rubber, a major domestic producer of passenger car and light truck tires, has its headquarters in Akron, Ohio. In addition, nearly a thousand Ohioans produce passenger car and light truck tires at Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. in Findlay, Ohio…Unfortunately, Cooper, just like the rest of the domestic tire industry, has been harmed by the surge in low-priced Chinese imports. As the local union president at Cooper testified to Commission staff in June 2014, the plant's daily production fell from 21,500 tires a day to just 17,400 tires a day after safeguard tariffs expired in 2012 and Chinese imports began to rise. As a result, Cooper management was forced to take days out of schedule, reduce the number of tire molds in operation, and allow the workforce to shrink.

"An affirmative vote will give the domestic tire industry and its workers the chance to recover from the injury they have suffered and the chance to thrive in the years ahead."

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