There is one, and only one, notable development in the Chinese tires case. The rest is old news, non-news, or nonsense. Why does anyone care about this case? It’s certainly not because of the amount of trade affected. Replacement tires constitute a drop in the bucket of US-China trade. It’s not because it will dent US unemployment. Three years of tariffs on tires from one country will do almost nothing for production in the US. It’s not because of the potential Chinese reaction. The level of grassroots interest in this …
President Obama has decided to apply heavy tariffs to passenger car and light truck replacement tires made in China. This is the latest and worst episode in an ill-advised assault on free trade with the PRC. Taking WTO-compliant steps to counter Chinese subsidies or other mercantilist behavior is entirely reasonable. (That doesn’t mean any WTO-compliant action is a good idea — the “Buy America” provisions passed as part of the stimulus package may be WTO-compliant but are still terrible policy.) The problem here is that American actions are occurring in …
