Fair Trade remains a key focus for the Aluminum Extruders Council, and several recent developments are worth highlighting as we begin the new year. Each of these matters reinforces the importance of continued attention to trade enforcement and policy issues affecting the extrusion industry. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Commerce initiated a scope ruling involving micro-channel heat exchangers produced in China and exported to the United States either directly from China or through Mexico. The scope inquiry will determine whether these products fall within the existing China I antidumping and countervailing duty orders on aluminum extrusions. The public comment period is currently open, and a preliminary determination could be issued as early as April. The Aluminum Extrusion Fair Trade Committee (AEFTC) continues to remain actively engaged, working in both an offensive and defensive posture under the China I orders. These cases remain an important tool in a...
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.