English 
English Welcome
on East Filters
Looking for auto parts? Please click below.
Our products
Racor Fuel filter/Water Separator
Oil water separator parts
Sakura Filters Equivalent
Fuel filter accessory
Top Searches
Oil filter
Fuel filter
Air filter
Oil water separator
Fuel water separator
Racor
Volvo
Caterpillar
Benz
Perkins
Scania
Komatsu
MAN
HINO
Iveco
TOYOTA
Cooper Tire: Anti-dumping could benefit, but not for long
If approved by President Obama, the anti-dumping duties of 35-55 percent on tire imports from China the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) recommended in July could benefit Cooper Tire & Rubber's operations at home, but only on a short-time basis, said Roy Armes, Chairman and CEO of Cooper Tire.
Cooper Tire is a U.S.-headquartered replacement tire maker. On July 20, Automotive News China talked to Armes in Qingdao after he completed a management meeting reviewing Cooper Tire's operations in China.
Cooper Tire entered China in 2006 and now runs two joint ventures here: Cooper Chengshan (Shandong) Tire Co. in Shandong province produces truck and passenger tires for the domestic market as well as the export market; Cooper Kenda (Kunshan) Tire Co. in Jiangsu province makes passenger tires for the U.S. market. The two facilities have a combined capacity of 14-17 million tires.
What is Cooper Tire's position on the anti-dumping case the United Steel Workers (USW) has brought against tire imports from China? What impact it could have on your China operations if President Obama agrees to impose anti-dumping duties of 35-55 percent as recommended by the U.S. ITC?
We believe in free and fair trade. We have realized that we have to compete on a global basis. To have free and fair trade allows the market to grow and to be successful. When you look at this current ITC recommendation, it could impact our operations here in China.
We are now assessing what is that potential impact, both positive and negative. There are some positive things for us, particularly in the U.S. market, but also there is also a negative impact as we have made significant investments here in China. In either case, whatever the outcome is, we'll fully cooperate with the government on whatever decision is made.
By "positive things", do you mean Cooper Tire could benefit from the ITC recommendation if it wins the support of President Obama?
In the short term, it could benefit our operations in the U.S., but I don't believe there would be benefits on a longer term basis. This is because I think it is going to be difficult to stop imports coming into the U.S., whether it is from China or any other country. The tire industry has a lot of access to different operations, whether it is from Brazil, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, or Central and Eastern Europe. There are tires that could come in from many parts of the world.
I think the particular issue the United Steel Workers is interested in is the growth of imports from China in the last couple of years. That's their biggest concern. But there are other places where you can get tires. And when I talk about the positives for the U.S., I think there is going to be disruption in the market, on the other hand, there could be pricing opportunities to help the operations. But that's on a short term basis. In the long term, this equalizes out because of the other alternatives to bring products into the U.S.
Why Cooper Tire closed the Albany, Georgia plant last year?
It was because of demand, globally there was still over capacity in the tire industry. In this particular case, we took a look at our U.S. operations and decided we need to take capacity off line. So we are going from four plants down to three.
What we are doing is instead of sub-optimizing four plants in the U.S., we are trying to fully optimize three. At the same time, we are building a footprint between what we have in China, Mexico, Great Britain and the U.S.. I think we are building a very competitive footprint that gives us better flexibility to continue to succeed and compete in this kind of market.
How are Cooper Tire's sales these days in China?
If you look at the fourth quarter of last year, it was like falling off the cliff, the business significantly declined. But in the first quarters of this year, our passenger tire business has been growing at a little over 40 percent—we targeted to grow 35 percent in our passenger tires this year. The truck and bus tire sales, are growing double-digit as well. In particular truck tires since April have come on strong.
What's your feeling about the U.S. auto market? Do you think recovery has started in the market there?
It is an interesting dilemma, let me put it that way. Because of the maturity of the U.S. market, you are going to see a slower growth than what you see in other parts of the world. If you look at that industry, I think there is pent-up demand in the U.S.
The reason I feel that way is: One, the industry has been down three out of the last four years. We looked at about forty-years of data, and never in this period was the market down for more than one year in a row. Secondly, we know that consumers are driving less in the U.S. In the last couple of months, we have seen the miles driven star to increase and the decline has been slower. As I go out to visit customers, I look at the used tires that are coming off the cars and they are much more worn today than they used to be.
I think all those factors indicate there is pent-up demand in the U.S. I think this year it will continue to be down, but next year we are looking at three or possibly four percent growth. Over the long haul, I think we are going to see between one and three percent growth, fairly slow.
Do you have any plans to expand manufacturing capacity in China?
We expanded the capacity of our Cooper Chengshan operations last year and we are adding some equipment to our Cooper Kenda joint venture. We don't have an immediate plan to add a new full facility.
So you have two plants in China. Any plans to build capacity elsewhere in Asia?
No. We are fairly new here and those are large investments. We are concentrating on these and making sure we get the payback on those investments. Right now with the economy the way it is, we are going to be very cautious about making any sizable investments in the region until we feel comfortable with utilizing the capacity we have.
What is Cooper Tire's revenue structure by region?
Our global revenue last year was about $2.9 billion. China now accounts for more than 20 percent of that. Overall about 30 percent of our revenue came from outside the North American market. That has doubled in the last few years.
We have challenged our organization here to grow our business in Asia into a billion dollars, and I think we have a good plan to get there. To date it is about $700-750 million. Eventually I'd like to see 40-45 percent of our revenue come from outside the U.S.
Cooper Tire is a U.S.-headquartered replacement tire maker. On July 20, Automotive News China talked to Armes in Qingdao after he completed a management meeting reviewing Cooper Tire's operations in China.
Cooper Tire entered China in 2006 and now runs two joint ventures here: Cooper Chengshan (Shandong) Tire Co. in Shandong province produces truck and passenger tires for the domestic market as well as the export market; Cooper Kenda (Kunshan) Tire Co. in Jiangsu province makes passenger tires for the U.S. market. The two facilities have a combined capacity of 14-17 million tires.
What is Cooper Tire's position on the anti-dumping case the United Steel Workers (USW) has brought against tire imports from China? What impact it could have on your China operations if President Obama agrees to impose anti-dumping duties of 35-55 percent as recommended by the U.S. ITC?
We believe in free and fair trade. We have realized that we have to compete on a global basis. To have free and fair trade allows the market to grow and to be successful. When you look at this current ITC recommendation, it could impact our operations here in China.
We are now assessing what is that potential impact, both positive and negative. There are some positive things for us, particularly in the U.S. market, but also there is also a negative impact as we have made significant investments here in China. In either case, whatever the outcome is, we'll fully cooperate with the government on whatever decision is made.
By "positive things", do you mean Cooper Tire could benefit from the ITC recommendation if it wins the support of President Obama?
In the short term, it could benefit our operations in the U.S., but I don't believe there would be benefits on a longer term basis. This is because I think it is going to be difficult to stop imports coming into the U.S., whether it is from China or any other country. The tire industry has a lot of access to different operations, whether it is from Brazil, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, or Central and Eastern Europe. There are tires that could come in from many parts of the world.
I think the particular issue the United Steel Workers is interested in is the growth of imports from China in the last couple of years. That's their biggest concern. But there are other places where you can get tires. And when I talk about the positives for the U.S., I think there is going to be disruption in the market, on the other hand, there could be pricing opportunities to help the operations. But that's on a short term basis. In the long term, this equalizes out because of the other alternatives to bring products into the U.S.
Why Cooper Tire closed the Albany, Georgia plant last year?
It was because of demand, globally there was still over capacity in the tire industry. In this particular case, we took a look at our U.S. operations and decided we need to take capacity off line. So we are going from four plants down to three.
What we are doing is instead of sub-optimizing four plants in the U.S., we are trying to fully optimize three. At the same time, we are building a footprint between what we have in China, Mexico, Great Britain and the U.S.. I think we are building a very competitive footprint that gives us better flexibility to continue to succeed and compete in this kind of market.
How are Cooper Tire's sales these days in China?
If you look at the fourth quarter of last year, it was like falling off the cliff, the business significantly declined. But in the first quarters of this year, our passenger tire business has been growing at a little over 40 percent—we targeted to grow 35 percent in our passenger tires this year. The truck and bus tire sales, are growing double-digit as well. In particular truck tires since April have come on strong.
What's your feeling about the U.S. auto market? Do you think recovery has started in the market there?
It is an interesting dilemma, let me put it that way. Because of the maturity of the U.S. market, you are going to see a slower growth than what you see in other parts of the world. If you look at that industry, I think there is pent-up demand in the U.S.
The reason I feel that way is: One, the industry has been down three out of the last four years. We looked at about forty-years of data, and never in this period was the market down for more than one year in a row. Secondly, we know that consumers are driving less in the U.S. In the last couple of months, we have seen the miles driven star to increase and the decline has been slower. As I go out to visit customers, I look at the used tires that are coming off the cars and they are much more worn today than they used to be.
I think all those factors indicate there is pent-up demand in the U.S. I think this year it will continue to be down, but next year we are looking at three or possibly four percent growth. Over the long haul, I think we are going to see between one and three percent growth, fairly slow.
Do you have any plans to expand manufacturing capacity in China?
We expanded the capacity of our Cooper Chengshan operations last year and we are adding some equipment to our Cooper Kenda joint venture. We don't have an immediate plan to add a new full facility.
So you have two plants in China. Any plans to build capacity elsewhere in Asia?
No. We are fairly new here and those are large investments. We are concentrating on these and making sure we get the payback on those investments. Right now with the economy the way it is, we are going to be very cautious about making any sizable investments in the region until we feel comfortable with utilizing the capacity we have.
What is Cooper Tire's revenue structure by region?
Our global revenue last year was about $2.9 billion. China now accounts for more than 20 percent of that. Overall about 30 percent of our revenue came from outside the North American market. That has doubled in the last few years.
We have challenged our organization here to grow our business in Asia into a billion dollars, and I think we have a good plan to get there. To date it is about $700-750 million. Eventually I'd like to see 40-45 percent of our revenue come from outside the U.S.
