Posted by smorgante on 01/27/2012

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AAM's Executive Director Scott Paul published the following letter to the editor in today's Wall Street Journal in response to a recent article:

Your Jan. 20 "The Business" column ("Get-Tough Policy on Chinese Imports Falters") ignores important gains in U.S. tire production since the implementation of tariffs on tires from China in 2009.

U.S. industry has added capacity for the past two years, and major investment is also expected this year in new and existing facilities. This investment could have occurred anywhere in the world, but thanks in part to the incentive for inward investment provided by the tariffs, tire-production jobs are being created in the U.S. Moreover, proponents of the tire tariffs never argued that there wouldn't be some increase in imports from other tire-producing nations.

The column acknowledges that skyrocketing input costs contributed to reduced margins for some tire dealers. Input costs weren't impacted in any way by the tariffs.

The tire case is one of dozens of active trade enforcement cases the U.S. has pending with China. If you are suggesting that we should turn the other cheek when China cheats, I respectfully disagree. The case provided the breathing room necessary for tire companies to invest in America after facing nearly a decade of impossibly priced imports from China that had eroded jobs and market share.

Scott Paul

Executive Director
Alliance for American Manufacturing
Washington