Commerce Finds Aluminum Truck Frame Components Covered by AD/CV Duties on China
The Commerce Department on Jan. 4 ruled automotive frame crossmembers made from extruded aluminum are covered by antidumping and countervailing duties on aluminum extrusions from China (A-570-967/C-570-968), in what a domestic aluminum group calls a “huge victory for our industry.”
The agency found the crossmembers from Shanghai Unison Aluminum Products, designed to be bolted across the underside of the frame of Ford’s F-150 to improve strength and resist twisting, do not meet the requirements of an exemption from the AD/CV duty order for “finished merchandise.” Because the crossmembers are made entirely of extruded aluminum, they do not qualify for the exemption, which requires the use of both extruded aluminum and non-extruded aluminum parts, Commerce said.
The affirmative scope decision applies only to crossmembers from Unison made from series 6061 aluminum alloy, Commerce said in the ruling. Crossmembers from Unison made from 7071 series aluminum are not covered by aluminum extrusions duties because the orders cover only 1-, 3- and 6-series alloys, Commerce said.
Commerce found the crossmembers are also ineligible for the finished merchandise exemption for a second reason: they are not imported ready for use, but must instead be incorporated into Ford F-150 truck frames to be functional. “Therefore, we find that the automotive frame crossmember alone does not constitute a final finished product.”
Unison had argued that the extensive manufacturing processes undergone by the crossmembers -- cutting, deburring, stamping, machining, marking, ultrasonic cleaning, assembly, welding, epoxy coating, inspection and packing -- result in a substantial transformation and remove it from coverage of the AD/CVD orders. But Commerce held that “the plain language of the scope includes aluminum extrusions that undergo the types of manufacturing processes described by Unison, such as further fabrication, coating, assembly, etc.”
“We find that the aluminum extrusion components of Unison automotive frame crossmembers satisfy the description of merchandise covered by the scope of the Orders because they are produced from extruded aluminum corresponding to the alloy series designation 6061,” Commerce said in the scope ruling.
The Aluminum Extruders Council applauded the scope ruling. “U.S. extruders have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in plant, equipment, personnel, and research to support the automotive industry's conversion to aluminum components,” the trade group’s president, Jeff Henderson, said in a Jan. 6 news release. “It would be a tragedy to see the business from all that effort go to the Chinese.”
Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of the scope ruling.