U.S. Aluminum Extrusions Industry Files Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Petitions

The U.S. Aluminum Extrusions Fair Trade Committee (Washington, D.C.), a coalition of domestic manufacturers of aluminum extrusions, and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union ("United Steelworkers") filed a petition in late March with the U.S. Department of Commerce ("Commerce") and the U.S. International Trade Commission ("ITC").

The petition seeks the imposition of antidumping and countervailing duties to provide relief from injury caused by unfairly traded imports from China. The Committee has retained the services of the law firm of King & Spalding to represent the industry in these investigations. The Committee accounts for over two-thirds of production in the U.S. aluminum extrusions industry, and additional companies are continuing to sign on to support the effort.

The USW represents thousands of aluminum extrusion workers in the United States. The Committee has cited significant and low-priced imports from China during 2007-2009 and an unprecedented expansion of imports from China during 2009. Indeed, according to official U. S. import statistics, imports of aluminum extrusions from China doubled from 2008 to 2009. This was particularly injurious to a domestic industry that has seen domestic consumption fall significantly since its peak in 2006. In addition, the petition discusses the dramatic and subsidized expansion of production capacity in China over the past few years, as well as the Chinese industry's plans to add even more capacity in the near future.

The Chairman of the Committee, Duncan Crowdis, the President of Bonnell Aluminum, Newnan, Georgia, stated, "Our industry is very competitive, with the best suppliers ultimately winning the business for all of the right reasons. The domestic industry has no desire to create a protectionist barrier. However, the industry cannot compete with entities that are able to significantly under-price U.S. producers due to unfair trade practices such as dumping and subsidies from foreign governments. The industry simply wants the law to be enforced to ensure that it is competing on a level playing field."

Stephen A. Jones, Esq., a partner at the law firm of King & Spalding in Washington, D.C., and lead counsel to the Committee, stated, "In this difficult economic environment in which domestic manufacturers are particularly vulnerable, significant volumes of illegally dumped and subsidized imports are unfairly taking market share and injuring American manufacturers and their employees. Antidumping and countervailing duties are necessary to restore conditions of fair competition to the U.S. marketplace for aluminum extrusions."

Leo Gerard, the International President of the United Steelworkers, stated: "I am proud to stand up and fight for the good manufacturing jobs of thousands of American workers, including USW members, working in our domestic soft-alloy aluminum extrusion industry and against the illegal subsidization and dumping of Chinese imports that are causing grave harm to our industry and workers. If China won't do the right thing and stop cheating on trade, we must make them do the right thing by bringing these trade actions."

The ITC will make its preliminary determination of injury to the domestic industry within 45 days. Commerce will then investigate dumping and subsidies and make preliminary determinations within 4-6 months. If dumping and subsidies are preliminarily found, the Customs Service will suspend liquidation of imports of aluminum extrusions, and importers will be required to post a bond in the amount of the estimated duties. Commerce will then conduct on-site verifications in China and make final determinations. The ITC will conduct a final investigation and determine whether the industry is injured or threatened with injury. If Commerce's and the ITC's final determinations are affirmative, antidumping and countervailing duty orders will be imposed, and imports will be subject to antidumping and countervailing duties. The entire case is expected to take 12-14 months.

The Committee's action follows similar cases in Australia and Canada in recent months in which imports of aluminum extrusions from China were found to be dumped and subsidized at significant margins. The Canadian case concluded in March 2009; as a result, duties have been imposed on Chinese imports into Canada. The Australian findings of dumping and subsidies are preliminary, and final decisions are expected later in the year. The current filing of petitions in the United States follows a thorough evaluation conducted to verify that similar practices were occurring with respect to the U.S. market. The Committee's evaluation provided substantial evidence that imports of aluminum extrusions from China are being dumped in the U.S. market and are benefiting from countervailable subsidies provided by the Chinese government.

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