The Thai tire industry faced a structural shift in 2026: on one hand, global demand for electric vehicle tires drove steady growth in passenger car tire exports; on the other hand, truck and bus tires encountered high anti-dumping tariffs in key markets, causing a significant drop in export volumes.

The dual blow of electrification benefits and trade barriers is forcing the Thai tire industry to accelerate strategic adjustments.

EV Tire Demand Boosts Export Value

Latest data from the Thai Trade Policy and Strategy Office (TPSO) shows that Thailand's passenger car tire exports reached $3.88 billion in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 2.1%.Growth momentum mainly comes from the rapid expansion of the global electric vehicle market.

EV-specific tires are typically sold at 1.2 to 1.5 times the price of traditional tires, significantly increasing the unit value of exports.

TPSO pointed out that Thailand is leveraging its status as a globally leading natural rubber production base and its well-developed automotive supply chain to actively advance towards becoming a regional electric vehicle tire production center.

US Market Faces Tariff Divergence

The United States is the largest export market for Thai tires, with exports to the US totaling approximately $2 billion in 2025.

However, the anti-dumping tax rates imposed by the US on tires of different specifications vary significantly: the tax rate for Thai small car tires is 3.16%, still competitive; while the rate for large car tires reaches as high as 30.36%, far exceeding the 15% tariff level for Japanese products.

This led to a 15% year-on-year decline in passenger car tires imported from Thailand in Q1 2026, while truck and bus tires plummeted by 24%.

Some Japanese tire brands have considered moving their large tire production lines back to Japan to avoid high tariffs.

Multiple Countries Initiate Dual Investigations, Commercial Vehicle Tires Become "Heavily Impacted"

The trade blockade facing the Thai tire industry extends far beyond the United States.

The Eurasian Economic Union launched an anti-dumping investigation against Thai truck and bus tires in November 2025, preliminarily determining the dumping margin at 24.17%.

Brazil also issued the final ruling of the second anti-dumping sunset review at the end of 2025, deciding to continue levying anti-dumping duties on Thai tires for five years at approximately $1.35 per kilogram.

It is worth noting that these sanction measures are highly concentrated on commercial vehicle tires with rim diameters of 17.5 to 24.5 inches, reflecting main importing countries' vigilance against the rapid expansion of the Thai truck tire market share.

Nine Measures to Address Challenges

Facing the escalation of trade barriers, Thailand's TPSO has proposed nine policy measures, including raising inspection standards for EV tires, promoting cooperation between tire factories and EV factories, utilizing free trade agreements to expand into emerging markets, etc.

Meanwhile, localized production capacity of Chinese tire companies represented by Zhongce Rubber, Linglong Tire, and Tongyong Shares is rapidly expanding in Thailand. Tongyong Shares' Thailand Phase II project, with an investment of 1.884 billion yuan, has become a typical case of localization.

These Chinese-funded enterprises, on one hand, help Thailand consolidate its position as a tire manufacturing center, while on the other hand, they face potential risks related to origin certification and EU anti-circumvention investigations.

In the future, whether the Thai tire industry can break through in the wave of electrification will depend on the outcome of localization innovation and the game of global trade rules.

On June 3, Kumho Tire Chairman Yang Qiren announced after the shareholder meeting that the company has successfully secured a main tire supply order for an electric pickup truck from a US startup, with expected small-batch shipments starting in the third quarter. Yang Qiren stated that gaining recognition from US customers served as a strong boost, and Kumho will use this to seek more original equipment opportunities with international automakers. If the customer reaches normal sales volume, it is expected to inject approximately 300 million New Taiwan Dollars (about 67 million RMB) into Kumho's revenue, accounting for more than 1% of the company's total revenue, and the revenue proportion of electric pickup truck tires will reach 1.5%.

In coordination with the new energy tire layout (Kumho launched EV-specific tires in 2024 and acquired Kunshan Taiyuan New Energy in 2025), Kumho is actively expanding overseas capacity. Vietnam plants 1 & 2 each cover approximately 15 hectares; Plant 1 focuses on motorcycles, bicycles, and industrial tires; Plant 2 focuses on cars, light trucks, and SUV tires. Regarding Southeast Asia, the company sees the potential of the motorcycle markets in Indonesia and Vietnam, continuously strengthening Indonesia plant capacity to supply local demand. Regarding the European market, Kumho has distributors in the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, and Spain, and has a rim factory in Croatia. Recently, it also purchased 10 hectares of land near a Germany plant, planning to build a warehouse and assembly plant, which will be upgraded to an European R&D center in the future.

While making rapid progress overseas, Kumho has made financial compliance adjustments to mainland assets. On May 22, Kumho's China investment hub, Kumho Huanyu (China) Investment Co., Ltd., released a capital reduction announcement, reducing registered capital from $210 million to $161 million, a reduction of $49 million (about 332 million RMB), with a reduction ratio of approximately 23.3%. The Taiwan Kumho side explained that the capital reduction was because "the capital originally planned to be invested was not fully available." Industry analysis points out this is a compliance financial and business registration adjustment, reducing uninvested capital to match the actual payment on the balance sheet, reducing pressure from inflated capital contribution, belonging to normal financial adjustment.

Deeply cultivating in the mainland for 32 years, Kumho established the Kunshan plant in 1994, the Tianjin plant started production in 2009, and Huizhou Kumho Rubber was established in 2013. Currently, Kumho Huanyu (China) directly controls two core production bases: Kumho Rubber (Tianjin) and Kumho Rubber (China). This capital reduction optimization advances simultaneously with overseas expansion, demonstrating Kumho's determination to race for the global market with a more flexible financial structure.