US Punitive Tariff on Chinese Tires to Expire

 
A three-year punitive tariff on the import of Chinese tires to the US is set to expire on Sept. 26, 2012. After three years, the tariff seems to have had limited effect on helping the US economy.

The tariff has been a hot button issue since US President Barak Obama put it in place in 2009. The tariff has done great damage to Chinese enterprises in the past three years. A lot of Chinese tire enterprises have been forced to shift their exports to Europe and other markets.

Meanwhile, statistics show the US tariff has done little to stimulate job growth in America. Before the tariff was imposed, the number of US employees in the tire industry numbered about 55,000. But in 2010 and 2011, the figure fell to around 51 thousand. And according to the vice President from the US Tire Industry Association, most US enterprises have not profited from the special safeguard measure.