U.S. launches probe against Chinese aluminium foil manufacturers

The United States Department of Commerce announced Tuesday, that it has launched a probe to determine whether Chinese aluminium foil imports in the U.S. should be subject to anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties. The move comes just a few weeks after the U.S. aluminium foil industry accused China of dumping the commodity in the country.

The dumping margin is estimated to range from 38.40 per cent to 140.21 per cent, disclosed the U.S. Commerce Department.

Earlier in March this year, the U.S. aluminium foil manufacturers lodged a petition demanding an investigation on 230 Chinese companies who they claimed to have sold around $400 million worth of aluminium foil last year in the U.S. market at discounted prices thereby causing damage to the sector.

The Commerce Department responded to their petition by launching the probe. Responding to the move, China urged the U.S. ministry to conduct a fair investigation following the WTO guidelines.

"Inappropriate use of trade remedy measures will not only harm the export interests of Chinese aluminium foil firms, but also will weaken the competitiveness of the U.S. downstream industries," said China commerce ministry in a statement.

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The preliminary determinations of the probe by the U.S. International Trade Commission are scheduled for a disclosure on or before April 24, the U.S. Commerce Department updated.

If significant injury to the domestic aluminium foil industry is proven through preliminary investigations, the probe will continue and the Commerce Department will make its preliminary determinations on anti-subsidy, or 'countervailing' duties and anti-dumping duties on June 2 and August 16, respectively.