WASHINGTON – The US has imposed steep new tariffs on nearly US$2 billion (RM8.28 billion) in aluminium from 18 countries that the Commerce Department accuses of dumping into the American market, including Germany, Spain and Brazil.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said China is not on the list announced on Friday, but is partially responsible for the flood of aluminium sheet imports that could undermine domestic producers.
“What’s really been happening, actually, is Chinese excess capacity has been dumped into other markets. That, in turn, displaces production, which gets dumped here,” he told Fox Business Network.
‘It’s a very complicated set-up, but the net effect is a lot of dumping in the US, and that’s what we’re clamping down on.”
Germany and Brazil face the steepest tariffs of close to 353% and 137%, respectively. The US imported nearly US$287 million of the product from Germany last year, and US$97 million from Brazil.
The preliminary decision means the US will immediately begin collecting the tariffs from importers to compensate for the price of aluminium sheeting sold below the cost of production or helped by unfair subsidies, according to a Commerce Department statement.
The department could overturn the decision in late February next year, and this is subject to a review by the US International Trade Commission. The final decision is scheduled for April 5. – AFP, October 11, 2020
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