Peru pays three times as much per Indian tyre as per Chinese one, and the gap is product mix
The numbers behind this
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| One Chinese tyre landed in Peru, all kinds averaged | $33.36 |
| One Indian tyre landed in Peru, all kinds averaged | $109.03 |
| One truck or bus tyre, China against India | $68.49 against $69.60 |
| One mining or construction tyre, China against India | $250 against $196.50 |
| One agricultural tyre, China against India | $207.56 against $160.21 |
| Truck and bus, share of tyres and share of money | 30.7% and 55.8% |
| Motorcycle, share of tyres and share of money | 36.3% and 8.6% |
The number everyone quotes
Averaged over every kind of tyre, and over shipments from January 2025 to date, the median Chinese one lands in Peru at $33 and the median Indian one at $109. Median meaning half the shipments come in under that figure. Peru brought in $1,784 million of tyres in that window, so the sample is not thin. Read as a price, that says India costs three times as much and has no business competing here.
Chinese and Indian tyres cost the same once you compare the same kind of tyre
Median price of a tyre landed in Peru, by origin and by kind of tyre, 2025 and 2026 to date
What happens when the product is held still
A tyre is not one product. The customs code itself already splits into kinds: car, truck and bus, motorcycle, bicycle, agricultural, mining and construction.
Inside truck and bus, China lands at $68.49 and India at $69.60. That is a dollar and eleven cents apart on a seventy dollar tyre.
Inside mining and construction, China runs around $250 and India around $197. Inside agricultural, China is around $208 and India around $160.
In the two families where a tyre costs hundreds, India is the cheaper of the two.
Why the average said the opposite
China lands roughly 2.5 million car tyres and 2.6 million motorcycle tyres into Peru in the window, and both are cheap by the piece. The median motorcycle tyre costs $11.50. India barely ships a car tyre and concentrates in agricultural and mining sizes, where a single tyre runs around $250, which is about twenty of those motorcycle ones. An average built on two catalogues that far apart describes neither of them.
Motorcycle tyres are the most numerous in Peru and the least valuable
Tyres imported into Peru by kind, 2025 and 2026 to date
Where the money actually sits
Motorcycle tyres are 36.3% of every piece that crosses the border and 8.6% of the value. Truck and bus is 30.7% of the pieces and 55.8% of the value. Mining and construction is 1.4% of the pieces and 12.8% of the value.
A plan built on unit volume points at motorcycles, and a plan built on value points at trucks and pits. The two call on different importers, quote different measurements and need different stock.
The unit, and why it decides the answer
Tyres are counted one by one. The tariff counts the quantity of every tyre code as a number of items, and the trade press quotes the average export price of one tyre. In the Peruvian record it agrees: the customs unit is pieces in every row, and the commercial unit is pieces in around 60% of the value, with close to another 30% declared in sets, which still counts pieces but in fours.
Read the same rows per kilo and a different story appears. By weight the United States looks like a premium origin at $8.16 a kilo. By the piece it drops out of the top eight, because weight measures the size of a tyre and price measures what it does.
What is not proven here
The record shows the pattern without proving the cause. The plausible mechanism is that sizes get made where the domestic fleet demands them: India runs an enormous agricultural and commercial fleet, China an enormous passenger and two wheeler one, and each exports what its factories were built for. That is a reading. The record does not measure it.
What the data does settle is narrower and more useful. A country average here measures which kinds of tyre that country sells. Any decision that treats it as a price is a decision made on the wrong number.
Frequently asked questions
What does a tyre cost to land in Peru by country of origin?
Averaged over every kind of tyre, the median Chinese one is $33.36 and the median Indian one is $109.03. Those two numbers describe two different sets of tyres.
Does the gap survive when the same product is compared?
No. In truck and bus tyres China is $68.49 and India $69.60. In mining and construction China is $250 and India $196.50. In agricultural China is $207.56 and India $160.21.
Why is the headline average so misleading here?
China ships 2.5 million car tyres and 2.6 million motorcycle tyres into Peru, both cheap per piece. India ships almost no car tyres and concentrates in agricultural and mining sizes, which cost several times more each. The average measures that mix.
Which family carries the value in Peru?
Truck and bus is 30.7% of the pieces and 55.8% of the value. Mining and construction is 1.4% of the pieces and 12.8% of the value. Motorcycle is 36.3% of the pieces and 8.6% of the value.
In what unit should tyre prices be read?
Per tyre. Customs counts tyres as a number of items and the trade press quotes the price of one tyre. Per kilo the same data tells a different and wrong story, because a heavy tyre is a big one rather than an expensive one.
Tell us the family and the size. We come back with who actually lands it in Peru.
We read the shipment record, not the brochure. You get the importers already buying the family you sell, with what they pay per piece and how often they buy.
Reply to info@garaycompany.comPrefer a sample first? Ask for one and it lands in your inbox.