USTMA supports federal funding to develop domestic sources of sustainable natural rubber
Since natural rubber is critical to the tire industry, national security and the U.S. economy, USTMA strongly supports efforts to promote the development of a domestic supply of natural rubber, including guayule and TKS (dandelion), which have led to successful experimental tires. Natural rubber is used in all tires and provides needed performance and durability qualities that can only be achieved through its use. For example, commercial and military aircraft tire treads and heavy-duty truck and bus tread are made almost completely from natural rubber because of unique properties that synthetic rubber does not offer. With 90% of natural rubber supply coming from southeast Asia, any supply chain interruptions may have serious repercussions for the U.S. tire market, potentially restricting production of truck, aircraft and military vehicles and aircraft tires.
USTMA urges Congress to support the development of a domestic natural rubber industry to include:
- Economic support for farmers to incentivize needed investments to help them adapt to planting rubber-producing crops as part of the normal agricultural economy
- Economic support to scale commercial processing facilities to extract the rubber and other high-value co-products from guayule and TKS dandelion
- Funding for research to further develop domestic sources of natural rubber
Tire Industry Project (TIP), World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Develop Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GRSNR)
Formed in 2005, the Tire Industry Project (TIP) serves as a global, voluntary, CEO-led initiative, undertaken by 11 leading tire companies which represent approximately 65% of the world’s tire manufacturing capacity. Since its founding, TIP has led research and established frameworks to better understand the tire industry’s environmental and human health impacts. Member companies are proud of these efforts and committed to researching and addressing existing and new topics—all designed to proactively contribute to a more sustainable future.
The CEOs of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the Tire Industry Project (TIP) developed the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR) in November 2017 to lead improvements in the socio-economic and environmental performance of the natural rubber value chain. With approximately 70% of natural rubber used in tire production, members of the GPSNR include tire manufacturers, rubber suppliers and processors, vehicle makers and non-government organizations (NGOs). In March 2019, natural rubber stakeholders convened for the inaugural General Assembly of the GPSNR and started work to finalize its strategy. Priorities include harmonizing standards to improve respect for human rights, preventing land-grabbing and deforestation, protecting biodiversity and water resources, improving yields and increasing supply chain transparency and traceability.