In the last couple of blog entries I’ve mentioned that we are waiting for the International Trade Commission (ITC) to decide if our Sunset Review will be an expedited or full review.  Last week the ITC decided on a 3-3 vote to conduct a full review.  That not only extends the timeline to close the issue, but will end up costing the AEC upwards of $500,000 in staff and legal fees.  Needless to say, this was a most disappointing decision. This decision does not cause us to downgrade our chances of winning.  As it was in the original filing, no Chinese extruder has come forward to challenge the base case.  Instead, there a couple of like-product challenges for products that have already been defined as covered in scope requests.  So when considering the size of the Chinese aluminum extrusion industry, having only two minor players come forward with scope issues, the decision by the ITC hurts even more.  While the AEC does have the budget and financing t...

In recent months there have been a growing number of reports about aluminum extrusions being imported into the United States from Vietnam.  This recent spike comes at a time when the AEC is watching such reports and import data very carefully.  Given the current policies of the Government of China to export their way out of their self-created overcapacity problems, the AEC is becoming more concerned about the prospect of transshipments from Chinese extruders through Vietnam. AEC members are asked to contact Jeff Henderson with any reports gathered from the field regarding Vietnamese extrusions coming into the U.S.  All reports will be treated in strict confidence.  It must be determined whether or not there is a pattern in what is being imported.  This pattern could appear in end use markets being targeted, names of the companies exporting product from Vietnam, types of extrusions and finishing, etc. So, please let Jeff know what you are seeing in the field. ...