Hankook Tire says US dumping probe unnecessary

South Korea's Hankook Tire & Technology has asked the US Commerce Department to abstain from investigating its tire imports on possible dumping charges due to lack of injury to US tire makers.

The Commerce Department probed tire imports from Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, and South Korea to determine if these were priced below fair market value after a petition by the United Steelworkers (USW).

According to USW, US tire companies face a reduced market share, plunging profits, and job cuts despite increased demand for tires.

In 2019, the US imported about US$4 billion worth of tires from the four countries, including $1.2 billion worth from South Korea.

Of the four countries, Thailand has the highest alleged dumping margins ranging from 106-217.5 percent.

South Korea's alleged dumping margins were from 43 to 195 percent, while it was 21 to 116 percent for Taiwan, and 5 to 22 percent for Vietnam.

Over 80 percent of Hankook Tires' revenue comes from abroad.

It has two plants in South Korea, three in China, one in Hungary, the US, and Indonesia, whose combined capacity reaches 102 million tires, making it the world's sixth-largest tire manufacturer by sales.

Hankook Tire's first-quarter net plummeted 34 percent to 81.28 billion won from 123.23 billion won a year earlier due to the pandemic's effect on car sales.