US announces final anti-dumping duties on certain aluminium foil imports from Armenia, Brazil, and 3 other countries

On Friday, September 17, the United States Department of Commerce announced the final anti-dumping duties on the imports of certain aluminium foil from Armenia, Brazil, Oman, Russia, and Turkey.

A few months ago, the Commerce Department made a preliminary determination that aluminium foil imported from the above mentioned countries was being sold at a lower than the fair value. The United States had then enforced a cash deposit equivalent to 188.84 per cent of the product value until the final countervailing duties.

The countervailing or anti-dumping duties determined by the US are as follows:

Armenia              29.11 percent

Brazil                  13.93 to 63.05 percent

Oman                  5.82 percent

Russia                 62.18 percent

Turkey                4.88 percent

On the arrival of the final decision on September 17, Tom Dobbins, president and CEO of the Aluminum Association, said: “Today’s decision is another sign that the United States is committed to combatting unfair trade through strong enforcement of international trade rules. These determinations bring domestic aluminum foil producers one step closer to securing relief from a second surge in unfairly-traded imports that hit the industry just as it was beginning to recover from an earlier wave of dumped foil from China.”

Dobbins continued, “The U.S. aluminum foil industry, which has invested more than $500 million in recent years to expand production and supply customers, includes the most competitive producers in the world. But U.S. manufacturers should not have to compete with products that are sold at unfairly low prices and subsidized by foreign governments in violation of the trade rules that we all must follow.”

The next step will be the final determination by the United States International Trade Commission, scheduled on October 19, 2021, whether imports from the five countries are a cause of material injury to the domestic aluminum foil producers.

The US Commerce determination included flat rolled aluminum products that are 0.2mm or less in thickness in reels weighing more than 25 pounds and that is not backed. The determination did not include etched capacitator foil or foil that’s not cut to shape.