* Chinese tire producers say 100,000 jobs at risk
* U.S. trade panel recommended three-year import relief
* Obama must decide on curbs by Sept. 17 (Adds lawyer's quote in final paragraphs)
By Doug Palmer
WASHINGTON, Aug 5 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama could cost 100,000 Chinese tire workers their jobs if he agrees to a U.S. union's request for steep import duties on tires from China, Chinese industry officials said on Wednesday.
"Please make no mistake about it. Chinese tires are fairly traded. The Steelworkers union petition makes absolutely no claim of unfair trade," Mary Xu, deputy secretary general of the China Rubber Industry Association told reporters.
Obama must decide on the U.S. Steelworkers union's request for curbs on tire imports from China by Sept. 17, one week before he hosts Chinese President Hu Jintao and other leaders of the Group of 20 countries in Pittsburgh to discuss joint efforts to revive the international economy.
The U.S. Steelworkers union, which represents workers at major U.S. tire manufacturers, filed a petition earlier this year for import relief and won a favorable ruling from the U.S. International Trade Commission.
The panel recommended Obama impose a 55-percent tariff on the Chinese tire imports which would be reduced to 45-percent in the second year and 35-percent in the third before being removed.
The steelworkers asked for protection under Section 421 of U.S. trade law, which only requires petitioners to show that imports from China have disrupted the U.S. market -- not that they have benefited from unfair trade practices.
China agreed to the safeguard mechanism for 12 years as one of the conditions for joining the World Trade Organization in 2001. Former President George W. Bush turned down a number of U.S. industry requests for relief under the provision, saying they were not in the overall U.S. interest.
Xu is one of nine Chinese industry representatives in town this week for meetings with the Obama administration, which also is holding a hearing on Friday on the issue.
"I think limiting trade in fairly traded goods is protectionism. It would contradict recent pledges by the United States to avoid protectionism and to work in cooperation with China to promote trade," Xu said.
About 100,000 Chinese workers who make tires for the U.S. market could lose their jobs if the relief is imposed, Xu said, countering U.S. steelworkers claims the remaining 25,000 U.S. tire manufacturing jobs are at risk from the imports.
About 15 percent of China's tire production is exported to the United States, she said.
Leo Gerard, president of the U.S. Steelworkers union, rejected the charge of protectionism, saying it was within the United States' rights under World Trade Organization rules to impose safeguard curbs on imports from China through 2013.
Gerard said it was difficult for him to believe Obama would not impose import curbs after making promises to increase enforcement of U.S. trade laws. He also warned Obama would pay a political cost if he spurns relief.
The United States has the option under Section 421 to try to reach a negotiated solution with China.
"We're not aware that negotiations are going on," said Terry Stewart, outside counsel for the Steelworkers.
But the U.S. government would not share that information with the private sector, Stewart said.
(Reporting by Doug Palmer; editing by Cynthia Osterman)