Wauconda, Illinois -- The Aluminum Extruders Council (AEC) is requesting that the Department of Commerce (Commerce) pause and reevaluate late-term measures by the former Trump Administration that would make it easier for imports of aluminum extrusions, including those from China, to avoid the Section 232 tariffs.
Commerce announced in December 2020 that it would implement a generally accepted exclusion (GAE) system for imports of aluminum products under Section 232, which grants broad and unnecessary exclusions from the 232 tariffs. The manner in which Commerce has implemented these GAEs also failed to give AEC and its member companies a full opportunity to provide comments on the negative impact these GAEs will have on the aluminum extrusion industry. Thus, AEC opposes these changes and has submitted comprehensive comments to the Department of Commerce, which can be found on regulations.gov and via this link.
AEC represents U.S. manufacturers of aluminum extrusion products, comprising critical products for defense, including fighter jets and armored vehicles, and critical infrastructure, including for bridge and infrastructure projects, train bodies and rail cars, aviation and vessels and renewable energy production. AEC has more than 120 member companies and represents aluminum extruders operating hundreds of extrusion presses in hundreds of plants throughout 35 states in the U.S.
The AEC has led the U.S. aluminum extrusion industry in achieving level competition by winning tariff protection that offsets unfair trade practices of extruders/importers of aluminum profiles produced in China. The efforts have been of enormous value to domestic extruders and suppliers. They may have saved the industry. Conservatively, AEC estimates 800 million pounds per year of extrusions are being produced in the U.S. that would have otherwise been lost to China. For more information, visit www.AECFairTrade.org.