[Aluminum Trail Network] According to foreign media reports, the American Aluminum Association's Legal Working Group on the Trade of Ordinary Alloy Aluminum Plate and Belts submitted an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy petition on March 9, accusing unfair trade of imported ordinary alloy aluminum plate and Belts from 18 countries and regions is causing substantial damage to the US aluminum industry. The proposals came 13 months after the U.S. Department of Commerce imposed anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs on Chinese ordinary alloy plates and strips.

Aluminum Association filed an unfair trade lawsuit against ordinary alloy aluminum plates and tapes imported from 18 countries and regions

Due to the implementation of the existing tariff order on Chinese aluminum products in the United States, Chinese manufacturers have prompted them to transfer exports of ordinary alloy plate and strips to other foreign markets. This has led manufacturers in these countries and regions to export their products to the United States, and the US market is currently the only market in the world where the market conditions will not be distorted by large amounts of low-priced imports from China.

Lauren Wilk, vice president of policy and international trade at the Aluminum Association, said: “This action reflects both the serious harm suffered by aluminum plate producers in the United States and the industry’s unwavering commitment to ensure that the U.S. unfair trade law is enforced to create a level playing field. Unfortunately, China’s continued overcapacity in aluminum production continues to distort global markets. This expanded anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duty action is a symptom of a bigger problem.”

The anti-dumping petition for the domestic aluminum industry in the United States stated that ordinary alloy aluminum plate belts from Bahrain, Brazil, Croatia, Egypt, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, Oman, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan and Turkey were dumped in the United States, and the dumping range was between 15.90% and 151.00% of the value of imported ordinary alloy aluminum plate belts. Domestic producers have also filed anti-subsidy tariff petitions claiming that producers in Bahrain, Brazil, India and Türkiye benefit from numerous government subsidy schemes.

Lauren Wilk added, "The Alcoa Association and its members have long relied on a strong international supply chain and we have not taken it lightly. But we cannot continue to do it in such an environment where unfair trade imports are affecting the ability of our members to operate."

The petition was submitted to the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC). Ordinary alloy aluminum plate and strip is a rolled aluminum product with diverse applications and consumption areas, including drainage ditches and downpipes, building facades, street signs and signs license plates, electrical boxes, pontoon boats, trucks and trailers, etc.

A large number of fast-growing low-priced products imported from other countries and regions have harmed the interests of American manufacturers, so domestic aluminum manufacturers in the United States filed a lawsuit. From 2017 to 2019, the United States' imports of aluminum products from target countries and regions increased by 114%, reaching nearly 750 million pounds (about 680,000 tons). As domestic U.S. producers are expected to benefit from anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariff orders for Chinese imports of ordinary alloy sheet strips, announced in early February 2019, substantial capital investment has been made to improve the ability to supply the product to the U.S. market. However, low-priced alloy plate and tape products imported from the above 18 countries and regions have gradually occupied all the market share previously imported from China. In fact, between 2017 and 2019, imports from the above 18 countries and regions increased, surpassing the decline in China's imports leaving the U.S. market (748.3 million pounds vs. 657.6 million pounds).

John M. Herrmann of Kelley Drye & Warren LLP, a trade adviser for the petition, added: "In early 2019, measures had been taken to address unfair trade issues imported from China, and after that, imports of unfair low-priced ordinary alloy aluminum sheet belt products surged from the above 18 target countries and regions, undermining pricing in the U.S. market and causing further harm to U.S. producers. Domestic industries look forward to the opportunity to file lawsuits with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission to obtain relief for unfair trade imports and restore fair competition in the U.S. market."

The ordinary alloy aluminum plate and strip that has been investigated by unfair trade is a rolled aluminum product with a thickness of 6.3 mm or less but greater than 0.2 mm. This type of product is rolled or cut to a certain length (excluding width), and is made of 1XXX, 3XXX or 5XXX series alloys. The aluminum thin plates under investigation include both unmelted aluminum plates and multi-alloy composite aluminum plates. Aluminum can blanks are not within the scope of this investigation. Such blanks are suitable for the manufacture of aluminum beverage cans, lids or pull rings.