Next year, 2022, will be the biggest year for the AEC’s Fair Trade Case since it was launched over 10 years ago. So, my report his month is about our planning and preparation for all that we will be doing in 2022. Transshipment, administrative reviews, EAPA cases, scope challenges, and of course, our Sunset Review will all be in full force next year. Here is where we are now, as we prepare.
The Fair Trade Committee is identifying the targets and scope of investigation for us to conduct in 2022. With a new budget in place, we are empowered to begin. Several of you have been quite helpful. Your inputs have helped us define exactly what it is we need to investigate. I have been working with several of you in recent weeks to collect all we know to prep the investigators. We are convinced that transshipment is taking place. Now, we need to gather the evidence. As you know, this is not an area of work I can broadcast to the world (as much as I’d like to do so!). However, I will keep you informed in ways that I can.
This year’s administrative review final decision has been pushed out by the Biden Administration until February 2022. This is a critical review because we are asking the Department of Commerce (DOC) to consider Kingtom an agent of China and, therefore, subject to the duties on Chinese extrusions. The DOC did agree with us in their preliminary decision over the summer. Now is the time to close the deal and get that determination in February to help us address the illegal and unfair trade activities of Kingtom.
In reference to Kingtom, there are a total of three Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA) claims made against Kingtom. In every decision to date, in all three, Kingtom has been found guilty. Through several maneuvers on their side, they continue to export millions of pounds into the U.S. and Puerto Rico. So, we need to finalize these decisions and let them work their way through the courts. Winning the EAPA claims and having Kingtom declared an agent of China should get us where we want. We have been working on our EAPA cases and preparing for the next phase in the two we submitted.
The key scope decision in our queue now is the Reflections Window + Wall case. This matter is heading to the courts. This is an important issue for our members, and one we intend to fight until the bitter end. Since we lost this decision at the DOC last year, those products are allowed into the U.S. duty free. In most previous cases, we won the decision at Commerce, and it was the importer appealing to get duties dropped. So, because of where we are in this matter, we need this case to happen as quickly as possible and win it as big as we can.
Sunset Review preparations began a few weeks ago. Our legal team is outlining what we will need, working with Commerce on the timeline and preparing our members. Last month, we held a short webinar to review this Sunset Review’s data templates. If you missed that, it is recorded, and you can listen to it here. The actual template is like what we’ve used in the past. You can find that template here. Remember do NOT send your completed templates to AEC staff. They must go directly to the attorneys. Their contact information is on the template and in the recorded webinar. We need your data by February 11, 2022. Once it is received, Wiley will quickly convert the information into our formal filing for the case. We only have one shot at this, so please, get this done as quickly as possible. The most important decision our industry will get in 2022 will be the extension of our orders for another five years. So, let’s do all we can to make that happen!
As you can read, there is a lot going on in our trade case and we are working hard to position ourselves in the closing weeks of 2021 for an outstanding result in 2022. Thank you for your continued trust and support!
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