Aluminum Pair Ramps Are Not Aluminum Extrusions Subject to AD/CVD Orders, Commerce Finds

Aluminum pair ramps imported by Central Purchasing, LLC (dba Harbor Freight Tools), are not covered by the scope of the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on aluminum extrusions from China (A-570-967/C-570-968), the Commerce Department said in a scope ruling dated Oct. 31. The ruling followed a February 2021 request from Harbor Freight to determine whether three models of aluminum pair ramps were covered by the orders.

The pair ramps at issue are designed to assist in loading and unloading items from vehicle beds. Each model consists of extruded aluminum rails, tongues and rungs, as well as polyester straps, steel s-hooks with a PVC coating and kirsite alloy metal ratchets. Harbor Freight said the pair ramps are classifiable under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 8708.29.5060.

Harbor Freight argued that the pair ramps were “finished merchandise” and subject to an exclusion from the scope of the AD/CVD orders, noting that Commerce has consistently found finished merchandise containing aluminum extrusions as parts, assembled together with non-aluminum extrusion parts, are excluded from the orders.

In May 2021, the domestic petitioner -- the Aluminum Extrusions Fair Trade Committee -- filed comments arguing that the ramps contain aluminum extrusions that match the characteristics of subject merchandise and that the scope expressly covers aluminum extrusion components that are attached to form subassemblies. The ramps are under the "kits" criteria because they are imported in sets of two and are not designed to be a single, salable item and should therefore be considered under the “finished goods kit” exclusion criteria, which the ramps do not qualify for as the non-aluminum extrusion parts are fasteners by function. Harbor Freight responded that the scope language addresses products that are "solely" aluminum extrusions.

Commerce found that the ramps meet the definition of aluminum extrusions in the scope language and also satisfy the finished merchandise exclusion, which includes "...merchandise containing extrusions as parts that are fully and permanently assembled and completed at the time of entry." The ramps are not meaningfully "subassemblies" as the domestic interested party argued, Commerce said. Noting a previous scope ruling on Meridian door handles, Commerce found "a clear distinction" in the scope between "parts for final finished products” that “otherwise meet the definition of aluminum extrusions,” such as an aluminum extrusion door frame, "which is in-scope, and the final finished product itself," which is excluded under the finished merchandise exclusion. In this case, Commerce found that the aluminum extrusion parts were permanently attached to non-aluminum components and therefore, the final product, pair ramps, satisfied the requirements for the finished merchandise exclusion.