The Aluminum Association Applauds Commerce Department?s Self-Initiation

Posted by kuailai99 on September 6th, 2018

The Aluminum Association applauds the United States Department of Commerce’s decision today to self-initiate antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on imports of common alloy sheet from the People’s Republic of China. aluminium ingots uk The Commerce Department will now conduct investigations of whether imports of common alloy sheet from China are being sold in the United States at unfairly low prices, as well as whether Chinese producers of common alloy sheet are receiving actionable subsidies from the Government of China.

“The Aluminum Association and its members enthusiastically support the decision announced today by the Department of Commerce and Secretary Wilbur Ross to self-initiate unfair trade investigations concerning imports of common alloy sheet from China,” stated Heidi Brock, President & CEO of the Aluminum Association. “We are extremely grateful for the efforts and leadership of Secretary Ross in vigorously enforcing the U.S. trade laws. The Aluminum Association and its members seek to help ensure that common alloy sheet from China entering the United States is fairly traded.”

In its announcement earlier today, the Commerce Department estimated a dumping margin of between 56.54 to 59.72 percent for imports of common alloy sheet from China. In addition, the Commerce Department announced that it will investigate subsidies provided by the Chinese government to common alloy sheet producers. Common alloy sheet is a flat rolled aluminum product that is used in a variety of applications, including transportation, building and construction, infrastructure, electrical, and marine applications where its strength, relatively light weight, formability, and resistance to corrosion are required.

The U.S. aluminum industry ships about 2 billion pounds of common alloy sheet every year out of around 26 billion pounds of total domestic aluminum demand. Overall, the U.S. aluminum industry supports 161,000 direct jobs and more than 700,000 jobs when indirect and induced impacts are considered. Further, the industry creates billion in direct economic impact and 6 billion in total impact, around 1 percent of U.S. GDP. The industry has been operating in a very challenging environment for a number of years largely as a consequence of Chinese overcapacity distorting the marketplace.