US aluminum duties prompt Chinese lawsuit

Chinese aluminum foil producer Shantou Wanshun Package Material Stock Co yesterday said its subsidiary is suing the United States over twin anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties Washington has imposed.

In a statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, Wanshun said Jiangsu Zhongji Lamination Materials, which was hit with a countervailing duty of 17.14 percent and an anti-dumping duty of 37.99 percent this year, had filed a lawsuit with the US Court of International Trade.

Zhongji was among the Chinese foil companies that unsuccessfully filed a joint “no injury” claim with the US International Trade Commission last year as Washington probed whether the companies were unfairly subsidized, and is now trying to reverse the duties on its own.

The duties of 55.13 percent on Zhongji’s foil were the lowest imposed on Chinese foil makers, Wanshun’s Board Secretary Huang Wei said. This shows the US side had taken some of its arguments into account, she said.

“But there are still some unreasonable elements inside” the ruling, she said. Huang pointed to the United States comparing the prices of China’s aluminum foil exports to South Africa as a reference case. The stock exchange filing noted that Bulgaria would have been a more appropriate choice.

The document made no mention of damages being sought but Huang said she hoped the US would remove the twin duties.

Aluminum has been a focal point of the US-China trade row, with Washington calling on China, the world’s top producer, to rein in excess capacity. US President Donald Trump imposed a 10 percent duty on aluminium imports from China and other countries from March.

“We will still export to the United States,” Huang said. Even after the double duties, “our customers still came back to buy” because of favorable pricing.

A search of the US Court of International Trade website showed Jiangsu Zhongji had filed a case against the US in June.

Associated defendants named in the stock exchange filing were the Aluminum Association Trade Enforcement Working Group and its individual members, as well as JW Aluminum Co , Novelis Corp and Reynolds Consumer Products.