Titan International Files Petition With U.S. Trade Commission, Notes 'Too Many Domestic Industries Have Been Overwhelmed With Unfair Trade Practices'

Titan International Inc (NYSE: TWI), a manufacturer of wheels and tires, announced on Friday it has filed petitions for relief from imports of off-the-road tires that are imported to the U.S.

Titan International noted two petitions were filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Commerce. The company claimed that imports from China and India are being dumped in the U.S. market while imports from China, India and Sri Lanka are benefiting from government subsidies which is causing "material injury" to domestic off-the-road tire producers.

Shares of Titan International have lost nearly 70 percent over the past year.

Titan International also added that preliminary determinations are likely by summer and final determinations due at the latest in early 2017.

"It is easy to understand why the middle class has decreased and manufacturing has been decreasing during the last 20 years," Titan International's CEO, Maurice Taylor, said in the company's press release.

"Too many domestic industries have been overwhelmed with unfair trade practices that capture sales of U.S. companies, depressed prices, reduced profitability and inability to maintain facilities and jobs. Titan has been fighting for the last eight years to safeguard the rights of U.S. producers of certain OTR tires and their workers to conditions of fair trade. Too many other companies have not been able to do so."