Tuesday, September 15, 2009

U.S. Tire Industry Opposed The Tire Tariffs

One of the most amazing and overlooked details about the "punitive tire tariffs" is that they were actually opposed by the domestic tire industry (Goodyear and Cooper). It was the United Steelworkers who filed the complaint, not domestic tire workers or the domestic tire industry.

From the NY Times:

Mr. Obama, responding to a complaint by the United Steelworkers, imposed a 35% tariff on Chinese tires for cars and light trucks. China has deplored the administration’s decision, suggesting it caved to domestic support for protectionism. The Tire Industry Association, which represents American tire retailers, said the decision was ill-advised and would lead to higher prices for consumers.

8 Comments:

At 9/15/2009 10:09 AM, Blogger KipEsquire said...

Not exactly: "domestic tire workers" are in fact represented by the USW, not the UAW:

http://www.moderntiredealer.com/News/Story/2009/09/More-on-tentative-Goodyear-USW-contract.aspx

 
At 9/15/2009 12:05 PM, Anonymous Benny The Truth Teller said...

Not surprising at all. Manufacturing concerms for years have gone offshore, and want to import. They also like the expensive dollar--makes overseas manufacturing cheaper.
The patriotism of NAM is as thin as a dollar bill.

 
At 9/15/2009 2:09 PM, Blogger KO said...

This makes it official then. The real beneficiaries of the tariff are the unionized employees. Just as the main beneficiaries of the GM bailout and the cash for clunkers were the unionized employees.

At least this one nets some revenue versus using taxpayer money. Of course that tariff is being paid for almost completely by people earning less than $250,000, but hey it's not a tax.

 
At 9/15/2009 2:36 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just to point out that presidents of all parties have done similar actions in the recent past. Somehow the few get thru while the many do not. Its not a union thing since no one would accuse GW Bush of being a stoge for the unions. (Bush slapped tarrifs on steel in 2002)

 
At 9/15/2009 2:45 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Are you saying the President is pandering to unions? Shame on you.
Anonymous..did you miss something in the article?

 
At 9/15/2009 4:07 PM, Blogger KO said...

Anonymous said...
...Its not a union thing since no one would accuse GW Bush of being a stoge for the unions. (Bush slapped tarrifs on steel in 2002)


So you have to go back 7 years to find a Bush example, and there are 3 new examples in just 8 months, plus years of speeches available on Youtube favoring unions, and "its not a union thing."

I'll wait for more data, but I'll stick with my hypothesis.

 
At 9/15/2009 9:16 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Why do some insist on comparing Pres. Bush's actions to defend their indefensible positions. Hitler was worse so therefore any comparative action is worthwhile.

 
At 9/16/2009 1:58 PM, Anonymous John Franklin said...

Maybe if we were ready to accept the slim profit margins that they do in China, the trade issue would be much more simple. Instead, we have unionized labor which perhaps unjustly will benefit from the tariffs imposed on our hardworking partners in the East. http://tinyurl.com/pxvvwo

 

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