Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced its final determinations that imports of certain aluminum foil from Armenia, Brazil, Oman, Russia, and Turkey are being sold at less than fair value (or “dumped”) in the United States and that aluminum foil producers in Oman and Turkey are benefitting from unfair government subsidies.  
 
“Today’s decision is another sign that the United States is committed to combatting unfair trade through strong enforcement of international trade rules,” said Tom Dobbins, president and CEO of the Aluminum Association.  “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.”
 
In the final determinations announced today, the Commerce Department calculated antidumping and countervailing duty deposit rates (including both final countervailing and antidumping duties), 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

“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,” added Dobbins.  “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 in the trade cases will be the United States International Trade Commission’s (USITC) final determination of whether imports from the five countries are a cause of material injury to or threaten to materially injure domestic aluminum foil producers.  The USITC is currently scheduled to announce its final determination on October 19, 2021.    
 
The certain aluminum foil subject to the Commerce Department’s investigation includes flat-rolled aluminum products that are 0.2 mm or less in thickness (less than 0.0079 inches) in reels weighing more than 25 pounds and that is not backed.  The determination does not cover etched capacitor foil or foil that has been cut to shape.  Certain aluminum foil is used extensively in food and pharmaceutical packaging, household foil, thermal insulation, cables, electronics, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (“HVAC”) applications and other heat transfer products where properties such as light weight, resistance to corrosion, and formability are desired.  
 
The Aluminum Association Trade Enforcement Working Group is represented in these actions by John M. Herrmann, Brooke M. Ringel, David C. Smith, Melissa M. Brewer, Elizabeth C. Johnson, and Joshua R. Morey of the law firm Kelley Drye & Warren LLP.