Defending the AEC orders continues to be a topic that impacts our Administrative Review, scope issues, and EAPA filings. Also, this month the AEC prepares to engage the Department of Commerce again on the Aluminum 232 and introduces the Aluminum Monitoring System to its members. We start with our ongoing Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA) cases against Kingtom. U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) administrative review of our Kingtom EAPA case affirmed its original results, finding substantial evidence that the seven importers subject to the investigation evaded the AD/CVD Orders on Aluminum Extrusions from China. CBP’s determination relied on several factors, including that Kingtom did not produce merchandise equal to the quantities it was exporting and that Kingtom had strong ties with China, inferring that Kingtom was able to supplement its exports of any aluminum extrusions produced in the Dominican Republic with Chinese extrusions. CBP stated, “{W}hen looking at the totalit
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.