The U.S. Court of International Trade upheld a ruling from the Department of Commerce that found curtainwall units and other parts of a curtainwall system were subject to the aluminum extrusion Antidumping and Countervailing Duty orders.
“The court reasoned that because curtain wall units are “parts for” a finished curtain wall that curtain wall units and other parts of curtain wall systems fall within the scope of the Orders. The January 30, 2014 decision was a major victory in the industry’s fight to maintain countervailing and dumping tariffs in place on curtain wall products from the PRC.”
In April 2011, the DOC imposed countervailing duties of 8.02 percent and 374.15 percent on aluminum extrusion products from China after determining Chinese extruders had an unfair competitive advantage due to government subsidies. The DOC also imposed anti-dumping duties of between 32.79 percent and 33.28 percent on Chinese aluminum extrusion imports after concluding Chinese companies were selling these products in the United States at below normal prices. In November 2012, the DOC amended the scope to include curtainwall products.
The ruling from the Court of International Trade, released Jan. 30, responded to a challenge from plaintiffs Shenyang Yuanda Aluminum Industry Engineering Co., Yuanda USA Corp., Jangho Curtain Wall Americas Co., Overgaard Ltd.’s, and Bucher Glass Inc. The defendant-intervenors in the case, defending the initial ruling of the Department of Commerce, included Walters & Wolf, Bagatelos Architectural Glass Systems Inc., and Architectural Glass & Aluminum Co.
“The court finds that Commerce reasonably determined that curtainwall units are included in the scope of the Orders. Additionally, because that conclusion was reasonable,” according to the court ruling.
“There are strong arguments for and against protectionism. In this case, the only ones benefiting are the lawyers,” says John D’Amario, Northwest USA Sales Manager, America Division, for Yuanda USA Corp. “This ruling merely modifies our approach to contracting strategy, and there could be huge advantages for us ahead. For this, we are thankful.”
Source: glass magazine