On Friday the U.S. Department of Commerce issued its preliminary determination on a complaint by domestic aluminium producers that imports of common aluminium alloy sheet from 18 countries have been dumped on the American market, finding support for such harm and instructing agents at the border to require those importers to deposit estimated antidumping duties on the way into the country.
Beginning immediately, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will commence collecting estimated antidumping duties from Bahrain, Brazil, Croatia, Egypt, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, Oman, Republic of China (Taiwan), Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, and Turkey. Per the complaint, this move is made to counter a shift in imports originating from the People’s Republic of China that was assessed antidumping duties almost two years ago. The complaint accuses China of simply routing its subsidized, below-market aluminium sheet through the countries listed above.
Tom Dobbins, President and CEO of the Aluminum Association, responded with praise to the decision in a related press release.
“Today’s decisions underscore the Commerce Department’s commitment to combatting unfair trade. The Commerce Department’s findings confirm that foreign producers relied on artificially low prices to rapidly increase their aluminum sheet exports to the United States, just as unfairly traded imports from China were beginning to withdraw from the market.”
The duties to be collected upon entry are as follows:
Bahrain – 13.70 percent
Brazil – 49.48 to 136.95 percent
Croatia – 3.22 percent
Egypt – 10.42 percent
Germany – 51.18 to 352.71 percent
Greece – 2.72 percent
India – 5.44 to 79.43 percent
Indonesia – 32.12 percent
Italy – 0.00 to 29.13 percent
Oman – 3.53 percent
Republic of China (Taiwan) – 18.02 percent
Romania – 12.51 to 83.94 percent
Serbia – 11.24 percent to 25.84 percent
Slovenia – 4.80 percent
South Africa – 8.93 percent
South Korea – 5.04 percent
Spain – 3.75 percent to 23.32 percent
Turkey – 12.90 to 15.45 percent
The Commerce Department plans to issue a final determination in mid-February next year.