Department Of Commerce Finalizes Aluminum Duties

The Department of Commerce has announced the final antidumping and countervailing duty rates in its investigation of common alloy aluminum sheet. These duties are the result of Commerce’s self-initiated investigation in late 2017 that found that Chinese companies and the government were artificially reducing the cost of aluminum sheet.

The department set final anti-dumping duties ranging at about 50 to 60 percent on the imports to offset unfairly low prices. Importers will also have to pay countervailing duties of 46 to 116 percent to offset government subsidies found by Department of Commerce officials.

The exact rates vary by company. One company, Henan Mingtai Industrial, faces combined duties of 96 percent, but duties on most other companies appear to exceed 100 percent. See the chart below for the exact duty rate.

The RV Industry Association has testified against these duties citing the increased aluminum costs for American businesses, including those in the RV industry, even for those companies using domestically produced aluminum. By December 20, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) is scheduled to make a final decision on whether there has been harm to the domestic aluminum industry. If they find no harm, they will vacate the case, which would eliminate the newly imposed duties. If the ITC determines American companies have been harmed by Chinese companies and the government artificially reducing the cost of aluminum sheet, the new duties will be made permanent.

For more information, contact Mike Ochs, director of federal affairs at mochs@rvai.org.

Antidumping Duty

Countervailing Duty