U.S. Slaps Duties on China Aluminum Foil as Xi Ally Arrives (Bloomberg News – February 27, 2018)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The U.S. Commerce Department slapped stiff duties on aluminum foil from China after concluding that the country’s producers are receiving unfair subsidies and dumping the product in the American market.

Duties from 49 percent to 106 percent will be imposed on Chinese aluminum foil for selling the product in the U.S. below fair market value, the department said in a statement Tuesday. The Trump administration also set duties of 17 percent to 81 percent for the unfair subsidies that the U.S. has concluded Chinese producers receive.

The issue now goes before the U.S. International Trade Commission, which is expected to have the final say on the injury claims in a vote scheduled for March 15, the Aluminum Association, which is based in Virginia, said in an emailed statement on Tuesday.

The ruling by Commerce adds to tensions between the U.S. and China, which has rejected the claim that it gives its aluminum producers an unfair advantage. The decision comes the same week as President Xi Jinping’s top economic adviser, Liu He, is expected in Washington for discussions over the two nations’ trading and economic relationship.

Liu will meet with White House economic adviser Gary Cohn, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, according to White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders. He will not see President Donald Trump during this trip.

For the rest of this article: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-27/u-s-confirms-steep-duties-on-chinese-foil-industry-group-says