A new white paper released today by the Aluminum Association – Targeted Trade Enforcement in Action: Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet AD/CVD One Year Later – highlights progress made in the U.S. common alloy aluminum sheet market one year after the Commerce Department’s publication of antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) orders on imports of certain common alloy sheet imports from 16 countries. The combined AD and CVD margins calculated by the Commerce Department range from 3.2 to 242.8 percent, reflecting the substantial magnitude of unfair trade that had been occurring in the market. The report found a two-thirds drop in imports of common alloy sheet from the targeted countries between 2019 and 2021 and more than $300 million in investment in the domestic market.

“We are gratified to see – once again – that targeted trade enforcement works,” said Charles Johnson, president & CEO of the Aluminum Association. “One year after the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission took strong action against unfair trade in the U.S. market, the domestic common alloy aluminum sheet market is showing signs of significant recovery.”  

Among key findings from the white paper:

• While imports of unfairly-traded sheet from the 16 countries now subject to AD/CVD orders accounted for 62.7% of total U.S. imports in 2019, imports from those countries accounted for just 25.2% of total U.S. imports in 2021;
• Based on Aluminum Association data, U.S. producer shipments of common alloy sheet increased by 24.4% from 2.69 billion pounds in 2020 to 3.34 billion pounds in 2021;
• Recent investments in the common alloy sheet market include a $207 million upgrade of JW Aluminum’s mill in Mt. Holly, SC and Arconic’s $100 million investment in its operations in Knoxville, TN.

In March of 2020, the Aluminum Association’s Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet Trade Enforcement Working Group filed an AD/CVD action against 18 countries importing common alloy sheet into the United States at less than fair value and that were benefitting from actionable government subsidies. In April of last year, the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) issued a unanimous finding that imports from 16 countries had materially injured US. producers, and the Commerce Department issued AD/CVD orders resulting in the application of duties on imports from those countries. 

This action followed a prior AD/CVD case against common alloy sheet imported from China. Common alloy aluminum sheet is a flat-rolled aluminum product that is used in a variety of applications, including transportation, building and construction, infrastructure, electrical, and marine applications.

Earlier this year, the Aluminum Association released a new economic impact study showing that the industry supports 164,000 direct jobs and $73 billion in direct economic impact. Further, the industry has committed or invested more than $4 billion in U.S. manufacturing over the past decade, including nearly $1 billion in the last year alone. 

To learn more, visit www.aluminum.org/economy.