The Government of India has re-imposed Anti-Dumping Duty (ADD) on new Chinese Truck and Bus Radials (TBR) for a period of five years effective from September 18, 2017. This would make Chinese imports costlier, and provide a level playing field for Indian truck and bus manufacturers. Indian truck and bus tyre manufacturers have invested in creating large capacities in anticipation of demand for TBRs to increase. The import of Chinese TBRs are posing a big challenge given their unrealistically low prices. Said Subrata Ray, Senior Group Vice President, ICRA, “With sizeable investments made in recent years towards creation of TBR capacities on the back of healthy long term domestic demand potential for radial tyres, rising imports had an adverse impact on industry capacity utilisation levels.” Priced lower than domestic Truck and Bus Bias (TBB) tyres, the imported TBRs have made heavy inroads into the Indian replacement market, eroding volumes for Indian players. The aggressive pricing of Chinese TBR tyres limited the competitiveness of domestic players, compounding the problem of lower rubber (raw material) prices. “With the re-imposition of ADD by India and the USA ruling out ADD on Chinese tyres in February 2017, Chinese imports will become costlier, levelling the playing field for Indian T&B tyre manufacturers. We expect this to positively benefit large Indian truck tyre manufacturers,” mentioned Subrata Ray.