This month we will look at the 232 Investigation and provide an update on our Fair Trade case. After having lived, eaten, and slept the 232 Investigation for the last 11 months, it is hard to believe it’s nearly over. I say nearly over, because the aluminum industry now has an opportunity to seek exclusions by country or product. Furthermore, the President has made it clear to excluded countries that they are only conditionally excluded pending the outcome of other trade negotiations. Nevertheless, the AEC’s shuttle diplomacy to Washington D.C. on this matter is, for all intents and purposes, complete. Countries and individual companies have already started to seek exclusions. Both Canada and Mexico were initially excluded, based on a positive outcome to the ongoing North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) renegotiations. Other countries have also been excluded since the announcement. Now we are seeing and hearing of many companies coming f...
The Aluminum Extruders Council (AEC) has led the U.S. aluminum extrusion industry in achieving level competition by winning tariff protection that offsets unfair trade practices of extruders/importers of aluminum profiles produced in China. Our efforts have been of enormous value to domestic extruders and suppliers. Conservatively, an estimated 800 million pounds per year of extrusions are being produced in the U. S. that would have otherwise been lost to China.