Skip to main content

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

By

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, who have committed to underwriting the first two years of expenses in this case, and those that donate to the effort.  If you are interested in joining the coalition or donating to the effort, please contact me at jhenderson@tso.net.

Meanwhile, we continue to manage an active China case.  This month we’ve received positive news as we work on issues at Customs, and in the courts.  Two EAPA claims alleging transshipment are moving forward.  Briefs in these cases will be issued in the coming weeks.  The door threshold matter, which is still in the courts, is expected to hold oral arguments in Q1 2024.  During that same period, we expect oral arguments in the Kingtom EAPA claims.  The ball is moving in our direction, and it’s about time!

On the Aluminum 232 tariffs, we have submitted comments in the latest round of inquiries by the Department of Commerce.  As ridiculous as this has gotten – the same arguments repeatedly leading only to another hearing – it does seem we have a real chance of getting our 232 aluminum extrusion tariffs re-instated.  This is important as it creates a partial barrier to entry into our market that could discourage future “Belt and Road” projects by the Chinese in third countries.  The comment period is ending, and we will be conducting a webinar for members in which we provide you with a letter you can customize and send to your elected officials.  We will also have their contact information.  If you are an AEC member register for the webinar here.

Clearly, there are several high-powered issues we are pushing to protect and save our industry from unfair and illegal trade practices.  This is the foundation on which we stand.  We believe in free trade, but it must be fair.  It is not fair today, and we aim to fix that.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Nice Win to Start the Year!

By
 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 writte...
Post a Comment
Read more

Keep That Ram Moving Forward

By
By Jason Weber, AEC VP of Government Affairs   On June 17 th , the International Trade Commission (ITC) will issue the Final Producer Questionnaire in the Aluminum Extrusion AD/CVD cases .  The questionnaire is due 30 days after it is issued .  As always, we continue to update membership with Trade Alerts as appropriate to keep them informed .  Beyond the Final Producer Questionnaire, key upcoming dates are the Final Hearing on September 9, 2024, the Final Vote on October 23, 2024, and the Final Determination on November 11 , 2024.   In last month’s essentiALs article and Fair Trade blog post, I outlined the recent Department of Commerce (DOC) changes to the 232 Aluminum Tariffs .  In that article, I outlined the following Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) codes that were removed from the General Approved Exclusions (GAEs):    GAE. 1.A : HTS 7609000000 (Aluminum tube or pipe fittings (for example, couplings, elbows, sleeves);   GAE. 4.A : ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Aluminum 232 Exclusion/Objection Process in Full Swing

By
Since our last update, the 232 exclusion/objection process is in full swing.  Over the last several weeks we have continued to refine the workflow and communication of the exclusion requests to make sure membership continues to receive the communications and objects when appropriate. For those members that have been working through the process we at AEC HQ thank you.  If for some reason you’re an AEC Extruder Member who should be receiving these communications, please let me know at jweber@tso.net and we’ll make sure you’re added to the distribution list. Although there are new companies submitting requests, we continue to see the same entities entering the bulk of the exclusion requests.  However, for the most part the exclusion requests are much the same with slight changes here and there.  This does simplify the objection process in a way where similar objections can be filed for multiple exclusion requests. As a reminder, price is not a valid reason for a company...
Post a Comment
Read more