AEC launches new campaign focusing on Aluminum Extrusion Fair Trade

The Aluminum Extruders Council (AEC) has launched a new campaign to raise awareness and understanding of the AEC Aluminum Extrusion Fair Trade Initiative. The campaign centers on the theme, Fair Trade – It Matters! The Aluminum Extruders Council has led the U.S. aluminum extrusion industry in achieving level competition by winning tariff protection that offsets unfair trade practices of extruders and/or importers of aluminum profiles produced in China. Conservatively, AEC estimates 600 million pounds per year of extrusions are being produced in the U.S. that would have otherwise been lost to China.

“This is about Fair Trade, Open markets & Competition,” said AEC President Rand Baldwin. “The government of China, in hoping to rapidly build industry and jobs in China, targeted certain industries for worldwide domination. Their method, however, is to import to the United States and other countries using trade practices that the U.S. International Trade Commission considers improper,” Baldwin explained. “By 2009, Chinese imports had risen rapidly from a non-factor to become more than 20 percent of the U.S. market. Our industry and the AEC brought a trade action in 2010 and the tariffs re-established a level playing field that brought business and jobs to U.S. producers who won back their customers. It's been a huge victory for those who believe in Fair Trade, but the fight is not over,” commented Baldwin.

In June 2011, shortly after the aluminum extrusion import tariffs were imposed, the Aluminum Extruders Council assumed financial responsibility for maintaining and defending the tariffs from challenges—legal and illicit. “This effort is much bigger and has lasted longer than we expected. Estimated cost for maintaining the U.S. Fair Trade tariffs is $1.25 million per year through the end of 2016, “ Baldwin explained. “AEC is seeking additional voluntary funding, asking only that each company in our industry—whether or not they are an AEC member—do their fair share. The tariffs must be maintained or the gains realized by U.S. extruders could be lost forever. Too much is at stake to let that happen.”

In order to provide the aluminum extrusion industry with the most current facts and information, AEC is hosting a special “Fair Trade – It Matters! “event during the AEC Management Conference on Wednesday, September 18, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. The event will feature programming devoted to imparting essential information about the Aluminum Extrusion Fair Trade Initiative throughout the day, culminating in a special networking event in the evening. The Management Conference is scheduled for Tuesday, September 17 through Thursday, September 19 at the Hilton O’Hare Airport Hotel in Chicago, Illinois.