I have been working on the Fair Trade case either as a staffer or volunteer since late 2009, and I have never seen it be more active and explosive than it is today. Our areas of focus continue to be our annual administrative review, scope challenges, trade enforcement, the 232, and now, our Sunset Review. Let’s get to it. Read this month’s Blog post to learn what’s in store in 2022.
We are awaiting the final decision from the Department of Commerce (DOC) in our Ninth Administrative Review. Meanwhile, the Tenth Administrative Review has begun. We expect to hear a final decision on the 9th Administrative Review on February 2, 2022. In this action we have made the claim that since Kingtom is a Chinese owned and operated company and has been caught transshipping Chinese extrusions into the U.S., they should be subject to the duties in our case. In the preliminary decision, the DOC agreed with us. We are confident this ruling will stand. This is a huge development for us should Commerce affirm their earlier decision. Interestingly, Kingtom did not participate in the 10th Administrative Review. So, if we win in the Ninth Review, they will be stuck with this decision for two years. Look for a Trade Alert in early February!
We have great news to announce in scope decisions. CCM, a Chinese solar mounting company, lost their appeal in the courts last month. The DOC had previously ruled CCM’s solar mounting systems was covered by the scope of our orders. That decision was appealed by CCM to the Court of International Trade (CIT). They lost again. Now, they have appealed that decision. The importance of this win is more than just the product itself, although that is very good news. The larger victory here is the reasoning behind the judge’s ruling at the CIT. He clearly stated that sub-assemblies are covered by our orders regardless of other content. The more often we get rulings like this from the courts, the stronger our future arguments will be with other sub-assemblies. The pendulum has certainly swung back in our favor, at least as far as the courts are concerned. We will be supporting the DOC in this appeal and will be using this decision in our Reflection Window and Wall appeal slated for later this year.
Trade enforcement is red hot right now. We have several active Enfor and Protect Act (EAPA) cases ongoing involving the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and China. Given the sensitive nature of those investigations, I cannot publicly comment on them. I can say that all signals are positive, and as these decisions are made public we will let you know. When we meet in March at the Annual Meeting & Leadership Conference in San Antonio, Texas, I will be able to share more information. In the meantime, I may be reaching out to you if I think you can help. We have new tools to use in our pursuit of suspected trade violations. So, if you suspect something let me know!
It appears that the Biden Administration is finally ready to discuss the 232 with industry. They are willing to review the GAE orders and the exclusion process for its efficacy. We will participate in this matter. I will be working with our attorneys in this at Mayer Brown. You will be a part of our effort, so expect a request from AEC headquarters to reach out to your elected officials… again. I am hopeful this time will be different, and the Biden Administration finally has an ear to hear our point of view.
With so many matters in play these days it’s hard to believe that none of them are more impactful than the main event for 2022: our five-year Sunset Review. Very soon our attorneys at Wiley Law will be gathering your data and developing our petition. This petition will be presented to the Department of Commerce in March for a preliminary decision in April. Efforts have been made to prepare, but your data is key to our victory! Please make it a point to get that data to Wiley in early February! We believe there is a strong possibility that we will win the case at the preliminary level and avoid the costs of a full review. We will know that by early May at the latest. If we win at that point, we will repurpose those dollars we save to fight unfair and illegal trade activities. If we go to a full hearing, we are confident we will win. Failure is not an option. These trade orders have been the foundation from which we have been able to rebuild our industry by investing millions in people, plants, and equipment. Going back to an unfair and illegal trade relationship with China is unfathomable.
As busy as trade matters are currently, it is amazing to me that the issue at the top of the list for most extruders is not trade but people. I think this represents the effectiveness of our efforts in fighting for fair and free trade. Chinese imports are still less than one percent of our market. We continue to catch them in their schemes. Nevertheless, we must recognize that overall imports of extrusions are at their highest level ever. We may not feel the impact because we are so busy. However, we will when the market turns. So, now is the time to up our game and confront these issues while we have the resources to do so. Your continued support in this area is vital and effective. Thank you for that, and I look forward to working with you in this most important area in 2022.
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