Aluminum Association Says Exclusions Undermining Section 232 Tariffs
Aluminum producers are telling the Commerce Department that imports are rising, not falling, as the scope of Section 232 exclusions is so large, it dwarfs traditional import volumes. They said this trend “is a threat to U.S. aluminum producers.” In a letter sent April 22, The Aluminum Association said that during the first few months of 2020, the Commerce Department granted exclusions for aluminum can sheet that is more “than the entire U.S. market consumes in a year and dwarfs historical import trends for that segment.”
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Exclusions were very high last year, but consumption of domestic supply was more than double consumption of imports, according to the association's data. But the trade group argues that distributors and downstream manufacturers are “leveraging those successful exclusion requests to demand price reductions from domestic suppliers.”
The group is asking Commerce to restrict eligibility of exclusions to manufacturers, not distributors. “If the Commerce Department opts not to restrict eligibility, the Department should at the very least shift the burden of proof to require non-aluminum producing requestors to demonstrate why they need to import aluminum products (in individual applications and in aggregate) above historical import volumes,” it said.