ITC Makes Aluminum Duties Permanent

On December 7, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled in favor of the domestic aluminum industry by a unanimous 5-0 vote, finding injury to the domestic aluminum industry by Chinese companies and government artificially reducing the cost of aluminum sheet. As a result, the antidumping and countervailing duties set by the U.S. Department of Commerce will be made permanent.  

The RV Industry Association testified against these duties in late October citing the increased aluminum costs for American businesses, including those in the RV industry, even for those companies using domestically produced aluminum. 

In November, Commerce 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, while duties on most other companies appear to exceed 100 percent.

This decision is the final step in Commerce’s self-initiated investigation and marks the first time since 1985 that final duties were issued as a result of an investigation initiated by the government.

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