The European Commission has proposed a second layer of trade duties on Chinese car and light truck tyres, with levies ranging from 27.5% to 57.09%, according to trade press reports of a disclosure the Commission sent to companies in its anti-subsidy case on Oct. 19.

The case matters well beyond Europe's tyre dealers. The duties would land on top of a busy month of EU-China trade bargaining over hybrid cars and rare earths. For Asian producers with plants in China, from domestic champions to South Korea's Hankook Tire, the final rates will decide whether Europe stays worth shipping to from Chinese factories.

The general disclosure in proceeding AS743 proposes definitive countervailing duties on passenger car and light commercial vehicle tyres from China with a load index of up to 121, trade publication Tyrepress reported on Oct. 22. Shanghai Metals Market, a Chinese industry data provider, said on Oct. 30 that the proposed combined rates, covering both the dumping and subsidy findings, run from a low of 27.5% to a high of 57.09%, with 28.76% for companies that cooperated in both investigations. It said the document rules out retroactive collection.

A disclosure is not a final decision. Companies can comment before the Commission adopts a regulation. Until then, importers keep paying the anti-dumping rates set in July. The Commission opened the subsidy probe on Nov. 6, 2025, and such investigations have up to 13 months to run, according to Tyre News, which puts the deadline for a final ruling in early December.

How the July anti-dumping duties set the floor

The subsidy case follows Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1540, adopted on July 6, which imposed definitive anti-dumping duties on the same tyres. The rates in the regulation vary widely by company. The Hankook Group's three Chinese units, Chongqing Hankook Tire, Jiangsu Hankook Tire and Hankook Tire China, drew the lowest rate at 4.3%. Shandong Yongsheng Rubber Group drew 45.3%, the same rate charged on all non-cooperating exporters. Other cooperating Chinese producers listed in an annex pay 24.4%.

The Commission began that investigation after a complaint lodged on April 7, 2025, by the Coalition Against Unfair Tyre Imports on behalf of European manufacturers. Its findings describe a fast shift in market share. Imports from China rose from 18% of EU consumption in 2021 to 28% in 2024, while the share held by European producers fell from 60% to 53%. Union production in 2024 was about 251 million tyres, the regulation said.

Eunews, citing the Commission, put Chinese shipments in 2024 at nearly 93 million tyres worth more than 2.5 billion euros, in an EU market of about 330 million units worth over 18 billion euros. The European industry employs more than 80,000 people across 14 member states, the outlet reported.

The regulation also shows how the subsidy case was running in parallel. In the anti-dumping file, the China Rubber Industry Association argued that the complaint blurred the line between dumping and subsidy claims and that subsidy allegations belonged in a separate probe. The association also pointed to data from Shandong Linglong Tire, which the regulation described as an exporting producer sampled in the parallel subsidy investigation. Carmaker Hyundai, arguing about temporary spare tyres, warned that the subsidy case "may further increase the level of duties," according to the regulation.

What it means for Asian tyre makers

The ruling hits a supply chain that already reaches across Southeast Asia. In the anti-dumping regulation, the Commission noted that the China Rubber Industry Association had cited six Chinese companies that set up tyre production in Thailand between 2012 and 2020, partly to avoid U.S. anti-dumping and countervailing duties. Plants outside China are not covered by the EU measures, which apply only to tyres originating in China.

The regulation also maps ownership in the Chinese industry. It said the sector is served mainly by privately owned groups such as Shandong Linglong, or by companies with minority state stakes, such as Sailun Group, which is 1.18% state-owned, and Zhongce Rubber Group, at 36%. It cited Qingdao Double Star, 41.35% state-owned, as an example of a company where the state exercises control.

For Hankook, the gap between July's rate and the proposed combined floor is the number to watch. The Korean company's China plants won the lowest anti-dumping duty by a wide margin. Shanghai Metals Market did not report company-by-company rates, and the disclosure has not been published, so it is not yet clear where each exporter will land once both sets of duties are combined.

European importers have pushed back. Deldo Autobanden and Interpneu Handelsgesellschaft, represented by a coalition of importers, were heard in the anti-dumping case and filed comments on injury, causation and Union interest, according to the regulation. The Commission imposed the duties regardless.

The Commission's final anti-subsidy regulation, due by early December, will fix the rates. EU and Chinese officials plan a ministerial-level video call in January 2027 to review results of their broader trade talks, according to the Slovenian government.