Tire Exports Meet Turkey Trade Barrier
On June 16, 2026, the Ministry of Trade of Turkey issued Announcement No. 2026/9, launching an anti-dumping investigation against polyamide and polyester high-tenacity yarn tire cord fabrics originating from China and Vietnam, following applications filed by local domestic manufacturers.
As a core skeleton raw material for tire production, tire cord fabric directly affects tire structural strength, wear resistance and overall service life. This investigation targeting upstream tire supporting materials has brought tangible tariff risks to China’s tire raw material exporters and finished tire manufacturers targeting Middle East markets.
According to official documents released by Turkey, the dumping investigation covers the period from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025, while the industrial injury assessment traces back to January 2022. The involved products correspond to two specific customs tariff codes: 5902.10.10.00.00 and 5902.20.10.00.00, covering most tire cord fabric products exported from China to Turkey.
Different from previous anti-dumping investigations targeting finished tires, this round of trade barrier targets the upstream raw material link of the tire industrial chain, bringing more indirect cost pressure to Chinese tire enterprises exporting to Turkey and surrounding regional markets.
Looking back over the past decade, China’s tire manufacturing industry has undergone a fundamental industrial upgrade. In the early stage of overseas expansion, most Chinese tire manufacturers relied on cost advantages and low-price strategies to gain market access, and were limited to low-end overseas market segments for a long time.
Meanwhile, global tire market share was long dominated by international giants including Michelin, Bridgestone and Goodyear, which occupied core high-end supporting and replacement tire markets worldwide with mature proprietary technology and stable brand recognition.
After years of continuous R&D investment, production line upgrading and standardized quality iteration, domestic leading tire brands including Chaoyang, Linglong, Double Coin and Triangle have achieved comprehensive competitiveness improvement in global markets. At present, Chinese tire products are fully comparable with international first-tier brands in core indicators such as tire durability, rolling resistance and adaptability to complex road conditions.
In the domestic market, local tire brands have completed market pattern reconstruction. Chinese manufacturers have occupied over 88% of China’s commercial truck tire market, realizing full dominance of the domestic heavy-duty tire market. In the passenger car tire sector, foreign tire brands have gradually lost market advantages in after-sales replacement channels, and can only maintain partial market share in original equipment supporting business for high-end vehicles. Foreign brands are no longer capable of competing head-to-head with local Chinese tire enterprises in mainstream domestic tire markets.
Against the backdrop of rising global trade protectionism in 2026, targeted trade remedy investigations targeting China’s tire industrial chain have become frequent. European and Middle Eastern countries have successively launched anti-dumping and anti-subsidy probes on Chinese finished tires, rubber additives and supporting raw materials in recent years. The core reason lies in the comprehensive rise of China’s complete tire industrial chain, which has squeezed the market share of local tire and raw material manufacturers in overseas regions.
This Turkey anti-dumping investigation will bring short-term cost impacts on Chinese exporters. Domestic cord fabric manufacturers will face extended investigation procedures and potential additional dumping duties for shipments to Turkey. Meanwhile, Chinese tire enterprises supplying finished tires to the Middle East will face increased upstream raw material procurement costs and regional market supply chain adjustment pressure.
Nevertheless, the Chinese tire industry has built sufficient risk resistance capabilities to cope with regional trade barriers. Firstly, China owns a complete and self-sufficient tire supporting industrial chain, with high local matching rates for core raw materials including cord fabric, rubber and steel wire, avoiding supply chain disruptions caused by single-country trade restrictions. Secondly, leading Chinese tire enterprises have accelerated overseas factory layout in Southeast Asia and Europe in recent years, realizing localized production and delivery to bypass regional tariff barriers effectively.
Besides traditional fuel vehicle tires, domestic tire manufacturers are also increasing investment in new energy vehicle special tires, targeting high-margin market segments to optimize overall product structure. Continuous growth of China’s tire export volume in recent quarters also proves stable global market demand for Chinese tire products.
Regional trade protection measures can only hinder market expansion in a short term, but cannot curb the upgrading pace of China’s tire manufacturing industry. With complete industrial chain support, upgraded product technology and diversified global production layout, Chinese tire manufacturers will steadily cope with ongoing global trade frictions and further expand high-quality overseas market shares in the future.
