by Jeff Yoders on MARCH 8, 2016
The Commerce Department placed tariffs on imports of Indian welded stainless pressure pipe and the Aluminum Association is sharpening its statements about imports of Chinese aluminum.
Anti-Dumping Duties for Indian Welded Stainless Pipe
The Commerce Department continued its recent trend of finding initial anti-dumping claims valid and has placed preliminary tariffs on Indian producers of welded stainless pressure pipe.
Commerce calculated a preliminary subsidy rate of 2.96% and 6.21% for mandatory respondents Steamline Industries Limited and Sunrise Stainless Private Limited, Sun Mark Stainless Pvt. Ltd., and Shah Foils Ltd., respectively. All other producers/exporters in India have been assigned a preliminary subsidy rate of 4.55%.
As a result of the preliminary affirmative determination, Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to require cash deposits based on these preliminary rates. The petitioners for the investigation are Bristol Metals, LLC; Felker Brothers Corporation; Outokumpu Stainless Pipe, Inc.; and Marcegaglia USA Inc.
Aluminum Association Speaks
The U.S. aluminum industry has stepped up efforts to work through multiple channels to address China’s production overcapacity and resulting glut in the global market, Politico reported. The “China Trade Task Force,” a cooperative effort between smelter Century Aluminum and the United Steelworkers union, have been working to slow imports of cheap Chinese product for some time, but now the industry trade group the Aluminum Association is speaking out more forcefully.
The association said in October that it would work with its Chinese counterparts to curtail overproduction there, but now the group is talking more stridently about the imports and Chinese authorities’ inaction to this point
China is “not slowing down their run-up in capacity,” Charles Johnson, the association’s vice president for policy, told Pro Trade in an interview. “We believe we have to get to the underlying issue.” The group is working toward the overall goal having the U.S. negotiate an agreement with Beijing to cut back production for which there is no demand.”
Politico reported that the industry association also persuaded Customs and Border Protection to reverse tariff reclassifications that Chinese producers use to conceal exports of minimally processed primary aluminum in order to avoid a 15% tariff and capture a Chinese value-added tax rebate.