The US Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration has included provisions for an aluminum import monitoring and analysis program in its congressional budget estimate request for fiscal year 2021, according to a document released by Commerce Monday.
Commerce plans to provide financial resources starting in 2021 for the ITA to develop staff and technical resources necessary "to develop a new system to track imports of aluminum products and provide an early warning system for import surges," according to the budget request document.
The Aluminum Association, a long-time advocate of an aluminum import monitoring program, praised the inclusion of the program in the budget request.
"We are grateful that the administration is moving to create an aluminum import monitoring system and prioritizing additional trade enforcement," Aluminum Association Vice President for Policy and International Trade Lauren Wilk said in a statement. "We appreciate the bipartisan support we've seen for these critically important items, which will help level the playing field for aluminum workers across the country."
The enforcement of a formal aluminum import monitoring system was first requested in an October letter sent by the Congressional Aluminum Caucus to Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross.
The trade group said continued trade-focused efforts beyond the import monitoring program are still necessary to address aluminum trade issues with China. China's aluminum overcapacity continues to grow despite the reduction of Chinese aluminum exports to the US in recent years through successful antidumping and countervailing duty cases, it added.
"Over the past five years, aluminum overcapacity in China has grown by 60% and, increasingly, that metal is being exported to third-party countries, further distorting global markets," it said.
The trade group said it also endorses further reforms to Commerce's Section 232 aluminum import exclusion process, adding that the department's Bureau of Industry & Security continues to grant tariff exclusions on large volumes of aluminum flat-rolled products from China and other countries.
In 2020 alone, Commerce has already granted nearly 5 billion lb of can stock exclusion requests, with a significant portion coming from China, the association said.
Commerce's budget request also includes an additional $3 million to support the ITA's role in analyzing Section 232 exclusion requests and $2 million to enforce antidumping and countervailing duty orders, according to the budget document.
Source: Platts |
