[ferro-alloys.com]The US Department of Commerce issued affirmative preliminary determinations in the antidumping duty investigations into common alloy aluminum sheet imports from 18 countries, the department said Oct. 9.

The antidumping duty investigations target aluminum shipments from Bahrain, Brazil, Croatia, Egypt, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, Oman, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan and Turkey.

Commerce preliminarily determined that exporters from the subject countries have dumped sheet in the US at rates between 2.72% and 352.71%.

The antidumping duty investigation covers aluminum sheet imports categorized under 12 different HTS code subheadings.Combined US imports from the 18 countries listed under the relevant HTS codes totaled 665,485 mt in 2019, climbing from 492,975 mt in 2018 and 310,409 mt in 2017, according to data compiled by the US International Trade Commission.

"The department's aluminum sheet investigations constitute the broadest US trade enforcement action in two decades," Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said in a statement. "We look forward to receiving parties' comments on the preliminary determinations that aluminum sheet imports from 18 countries have been dumped, and in some cases unfairly subsidized, into the US market."

The US-based Aluminum Association said the 18-country duty investigation addresses rising imports that have harmed the domestic industry, similar to the US International Trade Commission's 2018 ruling that US producers were materially injured by unfairly traded imports of common alloy aluminum sheet from China.

"Today's decisions underscore the Commerce Department's commitment to combating unfair trade," Aluminum Association CEO Tom Dobbins said in a statement. "The Commerce Department's findings confirm that foreign producers relied on artificially low prices to rapidly increase their aluminum sheet exports to the US, just as unfairly traded imports from China were beginning to withdraw from the market."

The 2018 issuance of duties on aluminum sheet imports from China have prompted Chinese producers to shift exports to other foreign markets, which have subsequently directed their own shipments to the US, the Aluminum Association added.

Commerce said it is scheduled to announce its final determinations in the antidumping cases on or about Feb. 22. If the final determinations are affirmative, the ITC will make its final injury determination on or about April 5, Commerce added.

The petitioners of the investigations are the Aluminum Association Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet Trade Enforcement Working Group and its individual members including Aleris, Arconic, Constellium Rolled Products Ravenswood, JW Aluminum, Novelis and Texarkana Aluminum.

The antidumping case is being investigated concurrently with a separate countervailing duty investigation on aluminum sheet imports from Bahrain, Brazil, India and Turkey. Affirmative determinations for the countervailing case were issued in August.

(S&P Global Platts)

• [Editor:王可]