The products covered by the order are new pneumatic tires designed for off-the-road (OTR) and
off-highway use, subject to exceptions identified below. Certain OTR tires are generally
designed, manufactured and offered for sale for use on off-road or off-highway surfaces,
including but not limited to, agricultural fields, forests, construction sites, factory and warehouse
interiors, airport tarmacs, ports and harbors, mines, quarries, gravel yards, and steel mills. The
vehicles and equipment for which certain OTR tires are designed for use include, but are not
limited to: (1) agricultural and forestry vehicles and equipment, including agricultural tractors,1
combine harvesters,2 agricultural high clearance sprayers,3 industrial tractors,4 log-skidders,5
agricultural implements, highway-towed implements, agricultural logging, and agricultural,
industrial, skid-steers/mini-loaders;6 (2) construction vehicles and equipment, including
earthmover articulated dump products, rigid frame haul trucks,7 front end loaders,8 dozers,9 lift
trucks, straddle carriers,10 graders,11 mobile cranes,12 compactors; and (3) industrial vehicles and
equipment, including smooth floor, industrial, mining, counterbalanced lift trucks, industrial and
mining vehicles other than smooth floor, skid-steers/mini-loaders, and smooth floor off-the-road
counterbalanced lift trucks.13 The foregoing list of vehicles and equipment generally have in
common that they are used for hauling, towing, lifting, and/or loading a wide variety of
equipment and materials in agricultural, construction and industrial settings. Such vehicles and
1 Agricultural tractors are dual-axle vehicles that typically are designed to pull farming equipment in the field and
that may have front tires of a different size than the rear tires.
2 Combine harvesters are used to harvest crops such as corn or wheat.
3 Agricultural sprayers are used to irrigate agricultural fields
4 Industrial tractors are dual-axle vehicles that typically are designed to pull industrial equipment and that may have
front tires of a different size than the rear tires.
5 A log-skidder has a grappling lift arm that is used to grasp, lift and move trees that have been cut down to a truck
or trailer for transport to a mill or other destination.
6 Skid-steer loaders are four-wheel drive vehicles with the left-side drive wheels independent of the right-side drive
wheels and lift arms that lie alongside the driver with the major pivot points behind the driver’s shoulders. Skidsteer
loaders are used in agricultural, construction and industrial settings.
7 Haul trucks, which may be either rigid frame or articulated (i.e., able to bend in the middle) are typically used in
mines, quarries and construction sites to haul soil, aggregate, mined ore, or debris.
8 Front loaders have lift arms in front of the vehicle. They can scrape material from one location to another, carry
material in their buckets, or load material into a truck or trailer.
9 A dozer is a large four-wheeled vehicle with a dozer blade that is used to push large quantities of soil, sand,
rubble, etc., typically around construction sites. They can also be used to perform “rough grading” in road
construction.
10 A straddle carrier is a rigid frame, engine-powered machine that is used to load and offload containers from
container vessels and load them onto (or off of) tractor trailers.
11 A grader is a vehicle with a large blade used to create a flat surface. Graders are typically used to perform “finish
grading.” Graders are commonly used in maintenance of unpaved roads and road construction to prepare the base
course onto which asphalt or other paving material will be laid.
12 i.e., “on-site” mobile cranes designed for off-highway use.
13 A counterbalanced lift truck is a rigid framed, engine-powered machine with lift arms that has additional weight
incorporated into the back of the machine to offset or counterbalance the weight of loads that it lifts so as to prevent
the vehicle from overturning. An example of a counterbalanced lift truck is a counterbalanced fork lift truck.
Counterbalanced lift trucks may be designed for use on smooth floor surfaces, such as a factory or warehouse, or
other surfaces, such as construction sites, mines, etc. I-2
equipment, and the descriptions contained in the footnotes are illustrative of the types of vehicles
and equipment that use certain OTR tires, but are not necessarily all-inclusive. While the
physical characteristics of certain OTR tires will vary depending on the specific applications and
conditions for which the tires are designed (e.g., tread pattern and depth), all of the tires within
the scope have in common that they are designed for off-road and off-highway use. Except as
discussed below, OTR tires included in the scope of the order range in size (rim diameter)
generally but not exclusively from 8 inches to 54 inches. The tires may be either tube-type14 or
tubeless, radial or non-radial, and intended for sale either to original equipment manufacturers or
the replacement market. The subject merchandise is currently classifiable under Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheadings: 4011.20.10.25, 4011.20.10.35,
4011.20.50.30, 4011.20.50.50, 4011.61.00.00, 4011.62.00.00, 4011.63.00.00, 4011.69.00.00, 4011.80.2020
4011.92.00.00, 4011.93.40.00, 4011.93.80.00, 4011.94.40.00, 4011.94.80.00, 8716.90.5056, and 8716.90.5059. While
HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, our written description
of the scope is dispositive.
Specifically excluded from the scope are new pneumatic tires designed, manufactured and
offered for sale primarily for on-highway or on-road use, including passenger cars, race cars,
station wagons, sport utility vehicles, minivans, mobile homes, motorcycles, bicycles, on-road or
on-highway trailers, light trucks, and trucks and buses. Such tires generally have in common that
the symbol “DOT” must appear on the sidewall, certifying that the tire conforms to applicable
motor vehicle safety standards. Such excluded tires may also have the following designations
that are used by the Tire and Rim Association:
Prefix letter designations:
· P - Identifies a tire intended primarily for service on passenger cars;
· LT - Identifies a tire intended primarily for service on light trucks; and,
· ST - Identifies a special tire for trailers in highway service.
Suffix letter designations:
· TR - Identifies a tire for service on trucks, buses, and other vehicles with rims
having specified rim diameter of nominal plus 0.156” or plus 0.250”;
· MH - Identifies tires for Mobile Homes;
· HC - Identifies a heavy duty tire designated for use on “HC” 15” tapered rims
used on trucks, buses, and other vehicles. This suffix is intended to differentiate
among tires for light trucks, and other vehicles or other services, which use a
similar designation.
· Example: 8R17.5 LT, 8R17.5 HC;
· LT - Identifies light truck tires for service on trucks, buses, trailers, and
multipurpose passenger vehicles used in nominal highway service; and
· MC - Identifies tires and rims for motorcycles.
14 While tube-type tires are subject to the scope of this proceeding, tubes and flaps are not subject merchandise and
therefore are not covered by the scope of this proceeding, regardless of the manner in which they are sold (e.g., sold
with or separately from subject merchandise).
I-3
The following types of tires are also excluded from the scope: pneumatic tires that are not new,
including recycled or retreaded tires and used tires; non-pneumatic tires, including solid rubber
tires; tires of a kind designed for use on aircraft, all-terrain vehicles, and vehicles for turf, lawn
and garden, golf and trailer applications. Also excluded from the scope are radial and bias tires
of a kind designed for use in mining and construction vehicles and equipment that have a rim
diameter equal to or exceeding 39 inches. Such tires may be distinguished from other tires of
similar size by the number of plies that the construction and mining tires contain (minimum of
mining tires contain (minimum of 16) and the weight of such tires (minimum 1500 pounds).
Scope Rulings Completed Between April 1, 2011, and June 30, 2011
Requestor: OTR Wheel Engineering, Inc.; its Trac Master and Traction Master tires are within the scope of the antidumping duty and countervailing duty orders; April 26, 2011.
Scope Rulings Made Between July 1, 2012, and September 30, 2012
Requestor: Igloo Products Corp. (``Igloo''); Igloo's new pneumatic tires with an overall 5-inch rim diameter are not within the scope of the antidumping and countervailing duty orders; September 24, 2012.
Scope Rulings Made Between January 1, 2014, and March 31, 2014
Requestor: China Manufacturers Alliance (``CMA''); CMA's on-road high-speed tires for mobile cranes with the REM-8 pattern are outside the scope of the order because the scope is not intended to include tires designed for high-speed mobile cranes designed for on-highway use, and thus excludes CMA's on-road mobile crane tires designed for high-speed use; March 19, 2014. |