Trade Action Against China Launched by American Aluminum Producers

Posted by Bob Davis on April 10th, 2017

As the first trade case for the Trump Administration, it’s a measuring stick to determine how fat the government’s protectionist agenda will go.

BEIJING— U.S. aluminum producers, who for years complained of discriminatory trade practices by China, have launched a complaint against their Chinese counterparts. It marks the first trade case for the new administration.

Accusing Chinese producers of selling their product at unfairly low prices, the Aluminum Association, an industry group based out of Arlington, V.A. took action and filed the case March 9. In their complaint, they are asking the U.S. Commerce Department to impose anti-dumping duties on aluminum for industrial and consumer uses, which would range from 38% to 134%.

Officials in China had a measured response. “We hope the U.S. decides not to pursue this course of action with trade remedies,” said Wang Henjun, a Commerce Ministry Official, in a statement. “China hopes that we can work with our U.S. counterparts to resolve these concerns through dialogue and avoid harming mutual benefit.

Chinese low-cost aluminum exports have been flooding the global markets and pushing prices too low for U.S. and European smelters to be profitable, putting thousands of jobs at risk.

An election promise by Trump was to raise duties on Chinese exports, targeting what he calls unfair action by Beijing, but has yet to take definitive action.

Aluminum is not the only issue. Other Chinese industries such as steel, coal and glass have seen their production grow over the past decade where as demand for these products has not.

The Chinese have plans to reduce their coal and steel production, but aluminum has not been made a part of their plans yet.

Currently, Chinese smelters supply more than half the world’s aluminum, a figure which will grow as they add additional capacity. Western competitors accuse Beijing of providing improper subsidies.

China’s aluminum production, after dipping in early 2016, bounced back to a new high of 2.95 million tons, according to information gathered by London’s International Aluminum Institute. 


According to the Aluminum Association, in the group’s 85-year history this is the first trade action it has filed, which they filed with the International Trade Commission and the U.S. Commerce Department.

“This action, unprecedented in its natures, is driven by the suffering of U.S. aluminum foil producers. We are committed to ensuring that trade laws need to be enforced in order to create a level playing field for domestic producers,” said the association president, Heidi Brock, in a statement.