Chinese passenger and light truck tires pay 37.5% effective duty before anti-dumping kicks in — 4% MFN base on HTS 4011.10, plus the 12.5% base reciprocal tariff (the Section 301 forced-labor tariff that replaced Section 122 on July 24, 2026), plus 25% Section 301 product duties. Layer the active AD/CVD orders on top and the worst-case stack runs past 120% for individual Chinese producers. Thailand sits in the 12.5% base tier and now ships more tires to the US than any other country. Mexico and Canada stay at 4% MFN under USMCA on qualifying tires. Here's the exact rate breakdown by HTS line, the AD/CVD math that catches importers off guard, and what the July 24 replacement of Section 122 did to Thai and Vietnamese tire pricing.
Current Tire Tariff Rates by Country
China: 4% MFN + 12.5% base reciprocal tariff + 25% Section 301 = 37.5% effective on passenger and light truck tires (HTS 4011.10 and 4011.20). Plus active AD/CVD orders running 20-87% depending on the producer. Thailand: 4% MFN + 12.5% base reciprocal = 16.5% on passenger tires (Thailand is on the 46-economy 12.5% forced-labor tier). Vietnam: same 16.5%. Indonesia: 4% MFN + 10% base reciprocal = 14%. Mexico: 0% under USMCA for qualifying tires (with origin documentation), otherwise 4% MFN + 10% base reciprocal = 14%. Canada: same as Mexico. Japan: 4% MFN + 10% base reciprocal = 14%, no Section 301. South Korea: 14% on general tires under KORUS preferences for some categories. Bicycle tires (HTS 4011.50) carry 0% MFN, so the duty stack is just the policy layers — 10% base reciprocal from any non-FTA origin (12.5% for Thailand, Vietnam, and other 46-list economies), 37.5% from China including Section 301.
The AD/CVD Layer Most Importers Forget
Anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Chinese tires have been in force since 2008 (passenger and light truck) and 2017 (truck and bus tires). Current rates from the most recent administrative reviews: passenger and light truck AD runs 20-65% by producer, with the all-others rate around 76%; CVD runs 8-22%. Truck and bus tire AD runs 22-87% by producer, with combined AD/CVD reaching 100%+ on the worst-rated Chinese factories. AD/CVD is producer-specific — the rate depends on the specific Chinese factory, not just "made in China." If your supplier doesn't have a known-rate determination, you pay the all-others rate, which is usually punitive. Always pull the Commerce Department case number for your specific producer before you order. ITC's online database has every active rate. A $25,000 container of Chinese passenger tires from a producer with a 50% AD rate plus 11% CVD plus 37.5% base/301/MFN stack lands at roughly 98.5% effective duty — that's about $24,600 of duty on $25,000 of cargo.
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Worked Example: $40,000 Container of Thai Passenger Tires
A $40,000 CIF container of passenger car radial tires from Rayong, Thailand, classified under HTS 4011.10.10 (radial tires for cars). MFN: 4%. Base reciprocal tariff at 12.5% = $5,000. MFN at 4% = $1,600. No China-style Section 301 product duties on Thai goods. No active AD/CVD on Thai passenger tires (Commerce dismissed the 2024 petition). MPF at 0.3464% = $138.56 (capped at $614.35). HMF at 0.125% = $50. Total duty: $6,788.56. Effective rate: 17.0%. The same container from a Chinese producer with a 30% AD rate and 11% CVD: $6,788 + $12,000 AD + $4,400 CVD = $23,188 total duty. Effective rate: 58%. The 40-point delta on a 40-foot container is exactly why Bridgestone, Michelin, Goodyear, and Continental moved their China-bound US production to Thailand and Vietnam between 2018 and 2023. Run the numbers through the landed cost calculator with your actual freight; the 16.5% Thai rate scales linearly while the Chinese rate compounds with producer-specific AD.
Why Thailand Took Over Tire Exports to the US
Thailand exported roughly $4.5 billion in tires to the US in 2024 — more than China, Vietnam, or any single source. The shift started with the original 2008 China AD order and accelerated after Section 301 added 25% in 2018. By 2022, every major tire brand had built or expanded Thai capacity: Bridgestone in Nong Khae, Michelin in Laem Chabang, Goodyear in Pathum Thani, Yokohama in Rayong, Sumitomo in Amata City. Vietnam followed with $1.8 billion in 2024 exports, mostly from Sailun and Kenda factories that originally moved from Shandong. Indonesia is the third major beneficiary at $1.2 billion, primarily from Hankook's facility in Cikarang. The combined non-China Asia-Pacific tire export total to the US runs about $8 billion against China's $1.5 billion — a complete inversion of the pre-2018 picture, when China shipped over $4 billion in tires annually to US buyers.
Section 232 Doesn't Hit Tires — But Components Bleed Through
Section 232 doesn't apply directly to finished tires. Chapter 40 isn't on the steel, aluminum, copper, auto, semiconductor, or lumber list. But tires are reinforced with steel cord, and that steel cord is a chapter 73 article that pays the 50% Section 232 surcharge if imported separately. Most major tire factories source steel cord regionally — Thai factories use Japanese or Korean cord, Vietnamese factories use Chinese cord. The Section 232 layer is baked into FOB pricing rather than appearing as a separate line on the entry summary. Aluminum bead wire components face the same dynamic. For an importer pricing 2026 contracts, ask suppliers for a steel-cord origin breakdown — the upstream Section 232 exposure can move FOB pricing 1-3% on a finished tire even though no Section 232 line item shows on your 7501.
USMCA: Mexican and Canadian Tires Skip the Base Reciprocal Tariff
Mexico and Canada qualify for 0% USMCA preference on tires that meet rules of origin — which for chapter 40 tires require a tariff shift plus, for tires going into autos, compliance with the auto rules-of-origin regional value content tests. A Mexican factory like Pirelli's Silao plant or Bridgestone's Monterrey facility producing tires from Mexican-compounded rubber qualifies. A Mexican factory importing finished Chinese tires and re-exporting does not. CBP audits chapter 40 USMCA claims because the rubber compounding step is a common origin-shift failure point. Document the BOM, supplier affidavits, and production records. A failed audit costs 14% retroactive duty (10% base reciprocal tariff + 4% MFN) plus penalties. For tire importers running USMCA programs, qualifying production is the only way to stay below 14% on any non-FTA route in 2026.
What July 24 Did to Thai and Vietnamese Tire Pricing
Section 122 expired July 24, 2026, and was replaced the same day by the Section 301 forced-labor tariff: a 10% standard tier for most economies and a 12.5% tier for a 46-economy list — explicitly including China, Thailand, and Vietnam. That moved Thai passenger tires from 14% effective (4% MFN + 10% Section 122) to 16.5% (4% MFN + 12.5% base reciprocal tariff). Indonesian and Malaysian tires stayed on the 10% standard tier. The only durable low-tariff origins are Mexico and Canada under USMCA, both of which have limited capacity expansion runway. Importers locking 2026 supply contracts for late-year delivery should still price duty escalation clauses into anything tied to Asian tire production — the 12.5% forced-labor tier can be revised, and each 2.5-point move on a $40,000 Thai container is $1,000 of duty per shipment.
Action Checklist for Tire Importers
Step 1: Pull every Form 7501 from February 4, 2025 through February 24, 2026 on Chinese tire entries (China's 10% fentanyl IEEPA tariff began Feb 4, 2025; the 10% reciprocal layer stacked on from April 2025). The IEEPA layer (reciprocal + fentanyl, up to ~20%) is refundable through the CAPE portal that opened April 20, 2026. Section 301 and AD/CVD are NOT refundable. Step 2: For any Chinese supplier, pull the current AD and CVD rates from the ITC database using the producer-specific case number — a 30-65% AD swing between two Chinese factories changes which is economic. Step 3: Confirm HTS classification on every tire SKU. Passenger (4011.10), truck/bus (4011.20), agricultural (4011.70), and bicycle (4011.50) all have different MFN rates and different AD/CVD coverage. Step 4: For Thai and Vietnamese contracts, note the 12.5% forced-labor tier that replaced Section 122 on July 24 (both are on the 46-economy list) and build duty escalation language in case the tier is revised. Step 5: For Mexican and Canadian USMCA programs, document origin rigorously — chapter 40 audits are common. Step 6: Run shadow quotes from Indian and Brazilian tire factories on your top 5 SKUs; both sit at the 10% standard base-reciprocal tier and avoid China-style Section 301 product duties.
Key Takeaway
Tire tariffs in July 2026 are bifurcated. Chinese passenger and light truck tires pay 37.5% base/301/MFN before AD/CVD, with worst-case Chinese stacks past 120% on individual producers. Thailand and Vietnam pay 16.5% effective, Indonesia 14%, and all three have absorbed the production shift. Mexico and Canada stay at 0-4% under USMCA. On July 24, 2026 the Section 122 tariff expired and was replaced by the Section 301 forced-labor tariff — a 10% standard tier plus a 12.5% tier for 46 economies including China, Thailand, and Vietnam — which reset Asian tire pricing. File CAPE refunds on 2025 Chinese tire entries (IEEPA portion only), pull producer-specific AD/CVD rates before any China order, and price duty escalation clauses into Asian contracts delivering past August 1.
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