Mexico is one of the 15 countries against whom the United States has initiated the anti-dumping investigation for exporting extruded aluminium products. On October 25, the US Department of Commerce named 14 Mexican companies when initiated the investigation.
Mexico is one of the major exporters of extruded aluminium products to the US market, accounting for US$660 million of US$3.19 billion of the US extruded aluminium import value as of 2022. According to Kenneth Smith, former Mexican chief negotiator of the USMCA free trade agreement, Mexico’s exports to the US have been vast in recent years in the binational trade of aluminium products.
If the United States investigation proves dumping and injury of the domestic market as a result of imports, countervailing duties will be levied on Mexico, said Smith in a webinar hosted by aluminium chamber Canalum.
Smith also said that the investigation must determine if any injury is caused beyond the production sector or whether it has affected much more than the manufacturing sector in North America.
Smith reminded that the United States tariffs on Chinese aluminium products have been in force since 2011. “This gives us an indication that the United States investigative authorities have taken measures in the past, have analyzed the market situation, production in the United States, and determined that specifically in the case of China there are dumping margins and harm to the domestic industry and, therefore, they already have measures in force,” said Smith.
During the early stages of the investigation, the US Department of Commerce will select a set of mandatory filers from among the largest exporters in each country and request each of them to evaluate the possible degree of dumping.
The United States Department of Commerce has also launched an anti-dumping investigation into aluminium extrusion imports from Vietnam, which accounts for 7.6 per cent of the former’s total imports from 15 countries. Vietnam is the fourth largest extruded aluminium exports to the US after Mexico, Colombia, and China.
To know about the US aluminium trade in the present market, read interviews and articles of the top aluminium companies in our latest e-Magazine: 'The Aluminium Industry: Focus Americas'.
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