Skip to main content

Relatively Quiet on the Aluminum Extrusion Fair Trade Front

This month our focus has been on the upcoming hearing for the appeal on the 5050 decision. AEC’s legal team has been preparing the Departments of Justice and Commerce for their upcoming litigation at the Court of International Trade.  Tai-Ao filed an appeal of the Department’s final 5050 circumvention determination, filing its summons on August 11, 2017 and complaint on August 31, 2017.  Our motion to intervene was granted on September 28, 2017.  This case has been consolidated with Regal’s appeal of the circumvention determination.  We filed response briefs on September 27, 2018 as did the Department of Justice.  Plaintiff’s reply briefs are due November 15, 2018.  After all the briefs have been submitted, oral arguments will be scheduled.  Most likely this will take place in the first quarter of 2019.

The 7th Administrative Review is underway.  We withdrew our Anti-dumping/coutervailing duties (AD/CVD) review requests on October 10, 2018.  Columbia, the only other company to request a review also withdrew its request with respect to all companies except for one, Houztek Architectural Products, in the AD review.  We are waiting for the Department to select respondents or issue questionnaires.  The preliminary results are scheduled for January 31, 2019. 

On the trade enforcement front, the Columbia EAPA (Enforce and Protect Act) proceeding is ongoing and we have submitted case briefs.  A final determination by Customs is anticipated by December 6, 2018.  The Malaysia EAPA proceeding is also ongoing.  A final determination by Customs is anticipated by December 2, 2018.  IN the meantime, more possible trans-shippers have been identified and briefings are being developed for Customs.

On scope issues, we are still waiting for a date for the final appeal in the curtain wall case.  Most expected to have that date by now.  The delay is allowing the industry time to raise funds needed to defend the orders.

Otherwise, the case has been relatively quiet.  No new scope requests have been entered and no scope challenge decisions have been announced.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Aluminum Extruders Coalition Files Historic Case; Customs Says “Yes”

Well, in case you missed it, a group of Aluminum Extruders Council members filed a historic AD/CVD case against 15 countries.  All 15 countries will be sued for dumping (AD), and four will be sued for subsidies (CVD).  In a press release issued earlier this week, which you can read here , the countries were identified as well as the projected duties the coalition seeks.  Anyone within the four walls of the Aluminum Extruders Council knew this was coming.  It has been discussed for four years.  To address rising imports, we battled in the enforcement arena, we went hard after products under assault in scope challenges and worked hard on the 232.  After exhausting every available option, and never seeing a dent in the import stats, we were faced with this hard decision.  That is where we are today.  The Hearing will be held later this month, and decisions will start to be rendered in the weeks that follow.  Communications about the details of this case will be handled by the Coalition,

A Nice Win to Start the Year!

 For months you’ve read my blog posts bemoaning the terrible decisions coming out of Washington D.C. related to our case.  Well, with the New Year, we have a fresh start.  And it’s a good one!  The industry has won its first Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA) case involving fencing extrusions.  On December 20, 2023, Fortress withdrew its request for an administrative review, prompting U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) to terminate the administrative review entirely. Termination of the review makes the CBP’s affirmative determination of evasion final.  When terminating the review, CBP clarified that termination does not in any way preclude CBP or other agencies from pursuing additional enforcement actions against Fortress or imposing penalties should the need arise. The other EAPA fencing case is pending, and it appears the respondent is not participating.  We submitted voluntary factual information and the company in question did not submit written arguments by the November 6, 202

USITC Issues 332 to Assess Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Where Sustainability Meets Trade Policy

  The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) is undertaking a new factfinding investigation that will assess the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity of steel and aluminum produced in the United States.  As part of its investigation, the Commission will conduct a survey by issuing questionnaires to firms with facilities producing steel and aluminum in the United States, whether U.S. or foreign owned, to collect data on their production of these goods and associated GHG emissions. This survey will be mailed to all extruders in the United States.  The announcement made by the ITC on July 6, 2023, can be accessed here.  As requested, the USITC, an independent, nonpartisan federal agency, will prepare a public report.  The report will provide, to the extent practicable: GHG emissions intensity estimates of steel and aluminum produced in the United States by product category and production stage in 2022, with data on Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions defined as: Scope 1: Direct emissions