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Work Focuses on Scope Challenges and Imports

This month our Fair Trade focus has shifted back to scope challenges.  At the same time, other issues are developing, which I will touch on in this report.  However, the key decision this month actually came from an adversary.  Whirlpool has dismissed its appeal in the appliance handle case.  This is a great development for us, as we have one less opponent in our quest to push the Department of Commerce (DOC) to return the interpretation of our scope back to the original language and its intent.  This decision from the courts confirms that the DOC cannot rule an item out of scope simply because it has additional non-extruded components.  It also reinforces the principle that a part cannot be ruled out of scope if it is a subassembly of a larger product.  These two issues are the legal pillars that will enhance our ability to keep more applications covered by our orders, and possibly seek a reversal from the DOC on items previously ruled out of scope.

One of those product categories involves pipe and tube.  Over the course of the case, several applications using poles, and sometimes telescopic poles, have been excluded by the DOC.   In many of those cases we’ve argued that the other components in those products do not automatically exclude the product, and in many of those applications the pole is a subassembly of a larger product.  So, this month we have actually received a scope challenge regarding a pole product, and we plan to fight that request using the new direction from the courts in the appliance handle case.

In other news, the 8th Administrative Reviews are starting.  As we have done for the prior reviews, we should request reviews in both the Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Duty (AD and CVD) cases to review the Customs data and see who gets selected as respondents and then make a decision on which companies to keep in the review and how to move forward.  For the 7th Administrative Review, on the AD side, the Department issued its preliminary results on April 16, 2019. The Department applied the People’s Republic of China (PRC)-wide rate to all of the 26 companies in the review, including COSCO and Houztek, who the Department found did not qualify for separate rates. These entities remain subject to the PRC-wide rate and cash deposits of 86.01 percent.

Imports of aluminum extrusions from other countries have started to accumulate to a level that has earned the AEC’s attention.  We believe these pounds are coming into the U.S. for one of three reasons.  The first is that they are straight-up imports that were legitimately purchased.  The second is that they are straight-up imports due to the exporting country losing its domestic share to China (or some other country).  And, the last is transshipment and/or circumvention from China into the U.S.  On one level it really doesn’t matter.  If the imports are causing damage to our industry, then we need to look into it.  On the other hand, it matters because our approach may be different.  We have started to gather data about these imports to help get some granularity into the source.  If you are interested in helping the AEC track imports, please let me know.

In summary, this has been a good month for our case.  The Administrative Reviews produced another good duty rate for us, our scope issues are going well, and we are gathering resources to examine current imports.  As always, I want to remind you that none of this could happen without your support.  So, thank you for that.  Together, we are creating a free and fair playing field for our industry.

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