Obama Slaps Stiff Tariff on Chinese Tires

President Obama has imposed tough new tariffs on the import of Chinese-made tires, the Wall Street Journal reports. The 35% import tariff comes in response to industry complaints that Chinese-made tires are flooding the US, jeopardizing thousands of jobs. China attacked the decision, saying it violated trade rules, and threatened retaliation for what it labeled "a serious act of trade protectionism."

Administration officials said the US Trade Commission had determined that China—which has tripled its tire exports to the US since 2004—was violating its obligations under trade agreements. Obama "decided to remedy the clear disruption to the US tire industry based on the facts and the law in this case," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. Lawyers expect the move to unleash a surge of requests from other industries for temporary protection from Chinese imports.
(More tariffs stories.)