Chinese passenger and light truck tires pay 35% effective duty before anti-dumping kicks in — 4% MFN base on HTS 4011.10, plus 10% Section 122, plus 25% Section 301. Layer the active AD/CVD orders on top and the worst-case stack runs past 120% for individual Chinese producers. Thailand pays 10% flat 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 Section 122 sunset does to Thai and Vietnamese tire pricing.
Current Tire Tariff Rates by Country
China: 4% MFN + 10% Section 122 + 25% Section 301 = 35% 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 + 10% Section 122 = 14% on passenger tires. Vietnam: same 14%. Indonesia: same 14%. Mexico: 0% under USMCA for qualifying tires (with origin documentation), otherwise 4% MFN + 10% Section 122 = 14%. Canada: same as Mexico. Japan: 4% MFN + 10% Section 122 = 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% Section 122 from any non-FTA origin, 35% 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 35% Section 122/301/MFN stack lands at roughly 96% effective duty — that's $24,000 of duty on $25,000 of cargo.
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%. Section 122 at 10% = $4,000. MFN at 4% = $1,600. No Section 301 on Thai goods. No active AD/CVD on Thai passenger tires (Commerce dismissed the 2024 petition). MPF at 0.3464% = $138.56 (capped at $634.62). HMF at 0.125% = $50. Total duty: $5,788.56. Effective rate: 14.5%. The same container from a Chinese producer with a 30% AD rate and 11% CVD: $5,788 + $12,000 AD + $4,400 CVD = $22,188 total duty. Effective rate: 55%. 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 14% 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 Section 122
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% Section 122 + 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 Does to Thai and Vietnamese Tire Pricing
Section 122 expires approximately July 24, 2026. USTR's March 11 Section 301 investigation explicitly covers Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Cambodia. Public comment closed April 15. If Thai tires take a 15-25% Section 301 layer in late July, the effective rate jumps from 14% to 29-39% — closing most of the gap with China. Vietnamese tires would move identically. Indonesian and Malaysian tires would likely follow. The only durable low-tariff origins post-July 24 would be Mexico and Canada under USMCA, both of which have limited capacity expansion runway. Importers locking 2026 supply contracts for August delivery should price duty escalation clauses into anything tied to Asian tire production. A 25-point Section 301 layer on a $40,000 Thai container is $10,000 of new duty per shipment — and it lands on August 1, not in 2027.
Action Checklist for Tire Importers
Step 1: Pull every Form 7501 from April 5, 2025 through February 24, 2026 on Chinese tire entries. The 20% IEEPA layer (10% reciprocal + 10% fentanyl) 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 delivering after August 1, build duty escalation language tied to the Section 122 sunset. Plan for a 15-25% Section 301 layer landing late July. 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 stayed at 10% Section 122 and avoid the Section 301 investigation list.
Key Takeaway
Tire tariffs in May 2026 are bifurcated. Chinese passenger and light truck tires pay 35% Section 122/301/MFN before AD/CVD, with worst-case Chinese stacks past 120% on individual producers. Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia pay 14% effective and have absorbed the production shift. Mexico and Canada stay at 4% under USMCA. The July 24 Section 122 sunset combined with the March 11 Section 301 investigation likely pushes Thai and Vietnamese tire rates to 29-39% by Q3, narrowing the China gap. 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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