Final Duty Rates Announced

On November 7, 2018, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced the affirmative final determinations in the first antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) trade cases the Federal government has initiated since 1985. These investigations, concerning Chinese imports of common alloy aluminum sheet, were initiated by the Enforcement and Compliance division of the Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration under the authority granted to the Secretary in the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended.

“President Trump has been clear in the need for drastic action to defend American workers and businesses from unfair trade practices,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “The Department of Commerce has answered this call – we will continue to do everything in our power under U.S. law to restrict the flow of dumped or subsidized goods into U.S. markets.”

 

The Department of Commerce determined that exporters from China have sold common alloy aluminum sheet in the United States ranging from 49.85 to 59.72 percent less than fair value, while also finding that China is providing countervailable subsidies to its producers of common alloy aluminum sheet at final rates ranging from 46.48 to 116.49 percent.

In 2017, imports of common alloy aluminum sheet from China were valued at an estimated $900 million.

The strict enforcement of U.S. trade law is a primary focus of the Trump Administration. Since the beginning of the current Administration, Commerce has initiated 131 new antidumping and countervailing duty investigations – this is a 245 percent increase from the comparable period in the previous administration.

Antidumping and countervailing duty laws provide American businesses and workers with an internationally accepted mechanism to seek relief from the harmful effects of the unfair pricing of imports into the United States. Commerce currently maintains 460 antidumping and countervailing duty orders which provide relief to American companies and industries impacted by unfair trade.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) is currently scheduled to make its final injury determinations on December 20, 2018. If the ITC makes affirmative final injury determinations, Commerce will issue AD and CVD orders. If the ITC makes negative final determinations of injury, the investigations will be terminated and no orders will be issued.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Enforcement and Compliance unit within the International Trade Administration is responsible for vigorously enforcing U.S. trade law and does so through an impartial, transparent process that abides by international law and is based on factual evidence provided on the record.

Foreign companies that price their products in the U.S. market below the cost of production or below prices in their home markets are subject to antidumping duties. Companies that receive unfair subsidies from their governments, such as grants, loans, equity infusions, tax breaks, or production inputs, are subject to countervailing duties aimed at directly countering those subsidies.

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Source:

U.S. Department of Commerce