Aluminum Association applauds International Trade Commission on launching investigation on global aluminum industry

The Aluminum Association applauds the International Trade Commission for beginning its investigation into the global aluminum industry and the competitiveness of U.S. producers. The federal trade agency announced yesterday it has officially launched its investigation, “Aluminum: Competitive Conditions Affecting the U.S. Industry”.

For U.S. producers, overcapacity, particularly in China, is of paramount concern to the aluminum industry. While the demand for aluminum is growing globally, and is particularly strong in North America, the Aluminum Association is concerned about growing overcapacity in China and questionable trading practices. Aluminum producers in the United States have been hurt by these practices, and have urged the U.S. government to investigate these issues.

USITC will report on factors of competition in major unwrought and wrought (semi-fabricated) aluminum producing and exporting countries, including the United States. The USITC will examine industry characteristics, recent trade trends and developments, competitive strengths and weakness, factors driving unwrought-production capacity increases, and government policies that affect aluminum production and exports in these countries.

The Aluminum Association assures that they will be actively engaged with their membership throughout this process to ensure that the USITC has the best available information to produce an accurate and credible report. The industry also plans to participate in a public hearing on the investigation on September 29, 2016 and looks forward to the final report release in June 2017.