Good afternoon.

My name is Corey Parks. I'm the president of Kal Tire, which is a family-owned Canadian company based in British Columbia. We employ over 4,800 people in Canada and are one of the country's largest independent tire dealers. We're the largest remanufacturer of truck and bus radial tires, which are also called TBR tires.

Canadian industry and consumers are threatened by the dumping and subsidizing of low-quality, single-use Chinese truck and bus tires. I'm here today to ask you to include the retreading industry in the protections being considered for electric vehicles, aluminum and steel. I will share some background on our industry, discuss the economic, affordability and environmental implications of these unfair trade practices, and ask you to consider the urgent need for action to protect Canadian interests.

In 2023, the Canadian tire industry contributed approximately $7.1 billion to the economy. It represents a vital part of our national transportation and supply industries, directly supporting tens of thousands of Canadian jobs and indirectly supporting many others.

The truck and bus radial tire market and its associated remanufacturing sector annually contribute $2.3 billion to the economy and are especially important. Remanufacturing of tires, which is often called retreading, adds a new tread to a used tire casing, extending its lifespan. Retreading has been a well-established and integral component of the transportation sector in Canada for over 70 years. Today, roughly 50% of all truck and bus tires on the road are retreaded tires.

Retreaded tires are a popular, sustainable and cost-effective alternative to new tires, which reduces waste and carbon emissions by 70% per tire when compared to new tire production. Further, our experience indicates that one quality tire can be retreaded three or more times and can cover the same distance as 12 low-cost, low-quality, single-use tires.

The retread industry is threatened by waves of low-quality, single-use tires imported from China at prices below the raw material costs of the commodities needed to manufacture them. These tires enter Canada supported by non-market practices, including government subsidies and weaker labour and environmental standards, making it impossible for the domestic industry, tire producers and retread industry to compete. These low-quality, single-use tires are poorly made and do not have the structural integrity to effectively and safely accept retreads. As a result, increased tire waste is being sent to Canadian landfills.

In short, this unfair competition threatens our domestic industries by depressing prices, discouraging local investment, filling our landfills with unnecessary waste and risking elimination of thousands of Canadian jobs.

If unfairly traded imports of truck and bus tires continue, the retread industry will likely disappear and Canada's transportation sector will rely on Chinese imports to maintain operations. Ensuring that the retreading sector can compete on a level playing field will strengthen our supply chain and help Canada keep its economy independent from foreign economic influence.

Our key allies, including the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom, have already implemented measures to protect their truck and bus tire manufacturing and retreading industries from unfairly priced Chinese imports. In 2019, the U.S. imposed up to 90% duty on truck and bus tires manufactured in China. The duty was renewed just this year. Unfortunately, Canada is now the only major western nation where dumping of these Chinese-manufactured TBR tires still occurs, and it's gaining momentum.

To safeguard the Canadian industry, economy and environment, we urge you to support a 109% surtax on truck and bus tires manufactured in China. This step would promote fair competition, protect thousands of jobs, safeguard our supply chain and support Canada's environmental goals. Countering unfair trade practices is essential to Canada's economic and environmental well-being and the survival of this industry.

I would like to end with three points. First, Chinese tires are being dumped and subsidized in Canada at prices below the raw material costs needed to make those tires. Second, the growing presence of these tires in Canadian markets is threatening the very existence of the remanufacture industry in the short term and the stability of the transportation sector in the medium and long term. Finally, western nations that have implemented duties to stem the dumping and subsidizing of these tires into their countries have returned market stability and fair competition to their domestic tire and transportation industries and have ensured a more level, market-based economy for these products.

Finally, I want to thank you for the invitation to appear before this committee. As a growing independent business in Canada, this is a very intimidating place to find ourselves. However, it's important to me that each of you know how much it means to each of these thousands of Canadians that you are interested in hearing about the very real threat that these dumped tires pose to their jobs, to the tire and transportation industries at large, and to the broader Canadian economy.

I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.