Recently imposed trade tariffs on aluminum extrusion imports were reversed by the U.S. International Trade Commission on Wednesday afternoon.
Credit: Michael Pointner/Pixabay
After a yearlong investigation by the Commerce Department, in which the department found that 14 countries were dumping and/or receiving foreign government assistance to produce cheaper aluminum extrusions, a majority of the ITC determined that the U.S. market was not being harmed by the countries investigated.
According to U.S. Trade, all fourteen countries—China, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates—imported aluminum extrusions in quantities harmful to U.S. market. ; and four of these countries would be subject to additional countervailing duties. The dumping margins ranged from 1.44 to 168.8%. The ITC’s negative assessment of damages means that the trade cannot initiate tariffs.
The investigation was initially requested on October 4, 2023 by the US Aluminum Extruders Coalition and the United Steel Workers Union (USW). The trade announced its findings from the investigation on September 27, 2024.
“The US Aluminum Extruders Coalition and the USW are surprised and disappointed by the divided negative vote of the Commission and the surprising refusal of one of the Commissioners. The domestic industry has been and continues to be hurt by unfairly traded imports and will evaluate all possible tools at its disposal to address this harm,” the group said in a press release.
Imported solar racks, solar tracker assemblies, electric vehicle battery boxes, and EV charging station parts or assemblies were among the extruded aluminum products affected by these potential Department of Commerce obligations.
The ITC is usually represented by six members, but currently only four seats are filled. With just two votes from Commissioners David Johanson and Jason Kearns, a majority was reached, overriding these tariffs on aluminum extrusion. ITC President Amy Karpel voted to uphold it, and Commissioner Rhonda Schmidtlein abstained.
The ITC is expected to release a report on its decision on December 10. In their current form, these duties will no longer affect imports of aluminum extrusion from those 14 countries, but petitioners may appeal the ITC’s decision.