Stamped Circular Blanks Not Subject to AD/CVD on Chinese Aluminum Sheet, Commerce Says
Aluminum alloy stamped circular disc blanks imported by Sunbeam for subsequent pressing into cookware are not subject to antidumping and countervailing duties on common alloy aluminum sheet from China (A-570-073/C-570-074), said the Commerce Department in a scope ruling filed Aug. 23. The scope of the AD/CVD orders covers aluminum sheet in coils or cut-to-length, not steel stamped or punched into non-rectangular shapes prior to export from China, Commerce said.
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“Merchandise stamped or punched in third countries from Chinese aluminum sheet remains within the scope of the Orders. However, for merchandise stamped or punched in China using Chinese aluminum sheet, the inclusion or exclusion of stamped or punched merchandise within the scope depends upon an analysis of the merchandise in question and the language of the scope of the Orders,” Commerce said. “Based on our analysis, the stamped circular discs in question are not within the scope of the Orders.”
The stamped circular discs are made from aluminum rolled into coils, then fed through a stamping press, which punches a circular disc from the sheet. The discs are then shipped to the U.S., where they are “individually deep drawn on hydraulic presses into vessels such as pots and pans, trimmed to clean the edges, polished, washed and hard anodized, with non-stick coatings applied and handles attached.”
The scope of the AD/CVD orders on common alloy aluminum sheet cover flat-rolled aluminum “in coils or cut-to-length.” Sunbeam’s discs are not even rectangular, and while Commerce remained silent during its AD/CVD investigations on common alloy aluminum sheet from China as to whether non-rectangular shapes could be subject merchandise, it subsequently clarified in AD/CVD investigations on common alloy aluminum sheet from 18 other countries that non-rectangular forms are not included in the scope. Commerce said that should guide its decision on the AD/CVD orders on China, “because the scope language, in relevant part, is identical.”
While the scope does include Chinese aluminum sheet “further processed in a third country,” the discs “that are the subject of this scope inquiry are not processed by punching from coils or sheets into circular discs in a third country. Therefore, the scope language involving further processing in a third country is not applicable,” Commerce said.
“Because the stamped circular discs at issue are punched from coils, are in non-rectangular shapes and are no longer in coils or cut-to-length sheets when they are exported from China, and the punching of these stamped circular disc blanks has the functional purpose of preparing the discs to be pressed into circular vessels such as pots and pans, these stamped circular disc blanks are not in coils or cut-to-length sheets specifically covered by the Orders,” Commerce said. “With this scope determination, however, we do not foreclose a future determination that similar processing of aluminum sheet from China could render a product subject merchandise covered by the Orders.”