China Aluminum Extrusions: Retail 'Wall Standards' With Steel Mounts Subject to AD/CV Duties
Aluminum “wall standards” imported by Ford Atlantic for use in retail shelving and displays are subject to the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on aluminum extrusions from China (A-570-967/C-570-968), said the Commerce Department in a scope ruling issued March 4. The only non-extruded aluminum components of the wall standards are steel and brass mounts, which as “mere fasteners” cannot qualify the wall systems for the finished merchandise exemption, said Commerce. However, folding tripod easels imported by Ford Atlantic are exempt from AD/CV duties because they include non-aluminum arm joints, hooks, and connectors, said the agency.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
In its scope ruling, Commerce again referenced the definition of the “finished goods kits” exemption in the context of a ruling on whether a product qualifies for the “finished merchandise” exemption. The scope of duties on aluminum extrusions from China says a product will not be considered an exempt “finished goods kit … merely by including fasteners such as screws, bolts, etc. in the packaging with an aluminum extrusion product.” No such explicit requirement exists for finished merchandise.
Ford Atlantic argued Commerce was improperly using the definition of the “finished goods kits” exemption to decide coverage of “finished merchandise.”. The Court of International Trade in September reached that same conclusion, cautioning Commerce against the “seductive symmetry” of holding the exemptions equal except for the fact that one is for finished merchandise, and the other unfinished (see 14092420).
But Commerce held course, finding that “the difference between ‘finished goods’ and ‘finished goods kits,’ as described in the scope is that the former is assembled upon entry while the latter is unassembled upon entry. We find unconvincing the notion that an unassembled product in kit-form that consists solely of extruded aluminum, save the fasteners, would … fall within the scope while the identical product, entering the United States as an assembled good, while fall outside the scope of the Orders,” said Commerce.
Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of this scope ruling.