Hankook Tire suffers from punitive tariffs in the United States

Previously, Hankook Tire's Jiaxing Plant, which suffered from punitive tariffs in the United States, produced passenger tires. The annual production capacity is approximately 16 million, of which 60% are domestic sales, and one-third of exports are exported to the US market. The amount of products involved is large. In fact, after the occurrence of the tire special security case, Hankook made significant adjustments in its operations. All the tires produced by Hankook Tire's Jiaxing plant are passenger car tires. Now part of its production capacity has been transferred to South Korea, and the development of the domestic market has been increased. Whether or not the United States violates the rules of the World Trade Organization, both China and the United States have a foothold: The United States believes that from 2004 to 2008, the rapid increase in the number of Chinese tires imported into the United States has caused the US tire industry to be affected, so the sanctions are reasonable; and China Yao Jian, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce spokesman, said after interviewed after losing the lawsuit in China last year that the US’s special safeguard measures were trade protectionist measures adopted to transfer domestic political pressure. Since the implementation of the special safeguard measures, the employment rate of the US tire industry has not risen. As a result, the practice has obviously violated regulations.

Can China's tire companies return to the U.S. market by “turning over” this appeal? Experts interviewed believe that it is necessary for the appeal to exert pressure and warning on the United States and other countries that are ready to emulate. If China can “pull” a round at the World Trade Organization, it means that Hankook will return to the US market. Industry insiders pointed out that since there were no precedents for the special safeguard measures, the interpretation of the relevant legal provisions was not clear, making the case into a “Rashomon” incident in which the parties involved believed that they were each reasonable and their opponents were unreasonable.