EU Tariffs On Chinese Tyres:
What It Actually Means
For Irish Garages

The EU has been investigating Chinese-made passenger and light-truck tyres for dumping since May 2025. In December 2025, the European Commission held off on provisional duties while the investigation continued. That changed in May 2026. Final duties of 30% to 52% are now in effect on Chinese-origin tyres, with one notable exception: Hankook, assessed separately at 3.4%.

This is on top of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties the EU has already had in place on Chinese bus and truck tyres since 2018. The new measure extends the same principle to passenger cars and light commercials, which is the range most Irish garages actually fit day to day.

Why This Is Bigger Than It Sounds

China supplied roughly a quarter of all passenger tyres sold into the EU last year. There is no other production base that can replace that volume overnight. Industry reporting already points to tighter supply and upward price pressure, and that pressure does not stay confined to Chinese brands. When a quarter of the market gets more expensive or harder to source, the rest of the market feels it too.

The Vietnam And Thailand Angle

Tariffs like this apply based on where a tyre is actually manufactured, not who owns the factory or what brand is on the sidewall. Chinese manufacturers have been shifting production to Vietnam and Thailand to keep supplying Europe without the duty attached. Longer term, some are reportedly looking at Serbia, Slovakia, Romania and Morocco too.

Here's the part worth understanding: a new factory does not hit full output or cost efficiency on day one. Relocated production carries its own costs while it ramps up. A tyre that dodges the tariff by being made in Vietnam instead of China is not automatically a cheap tyre. The saving from avoiding the duty can get eaten up by the cost of standing up new capacity.

What This Means When You're Buying

Two questions are worth asking every supplier right now, regardless of brand:

• Where was this tyre actually made? Country of manufacture determines the tariff, not the brand name. A brand can source the same line from multiple countries.
• When did this stock land? Tyres bought in before May 2026, or before a relocated factory ramped up, were priced under different conditions to stock landing now. Older stock in a wholesaler's warehouse is not necessarily priced the same as what's arriving today.

A wholesaler who can answer both of those without hesitation is one who actually knows their supply chain. That is worth more right now than it was twelve months ago.

Where Premier Tyres Stands

We track this across every brand we stock, not just the headlines. Each line is priced on where it's actually made, not assumed. When the market shifts, our pricing reflects it straight away, so you get the true trade price no matter which country it came from. Not every wholesaler pays this close attention. We do.

We hold stock across Cork and Kildare and deal directly with our brand partners, including our exclusive Irish distribution on iLink, Blackbear, Ovation and Transmate. If you want a straight answer on where a specific line is coming from, ask your account contact or check stock and origin details in the trade portal.