Aluminum Association Chinese Foil Circumvention Concerns
The Aluminum Association strongly supports new steps by the U.S. Department of Commerce to stop Chinese aluminum foil from evading existing duties by routing through Thailand and South Korea. In its statement, the Association says these imports try to dodge antidumping and countervailing duties imposed in April 2018 on unfairly traded foil.
Association President and CEO Charles Johnson commends Commerce for moving to enforce U.S. trade laws. He also notes that the Association plans to work closely with the agency as the circumvention inquiries move forward.
How the Aluminum Association Chinese Foil Circumvention Case Proceeds
The Commerce Department will send questionnaires to companies suspected of duty evasion. It will also invite other interested parties to submit information and arguments for the record. After reviewing the data, Commerce will issue a preliminary determination, likely within a few months, and then continue toward a final decision.
Overall, officials expect the investigation to take about one year to complete, which matches the typical schedule for these types of cases.
Aluminum Foil Products Under Investigation
The inquiry focuses on a specific type of flat‑rolled aluminum foil. The foil:
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Has a thickness of 0.2 mm or less
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Comes in reels weighing more than 25 pounds
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Is produced in China but then finished in Thailand or South Korea
Manufacturers use this foil across many applications, including packaging, insulation, and cables, which makes enforcement important for a wide swath of downstream users.
Existing Duties and Trade Shifts
Commerce’s earlier AD/CVD (antidumping and countervailing duty) orders set combined penalty rates between 55% and 176% for certain aluminum foil from China. After those 2018 orders, direct U.S. imports of the covered foil from China dropped sharply.
At the same time, exports of similar foil and sheet‑gauge products from Thailand and South Korea to the United States rose significantly. U.S. authorities now aim to determine whether some of these flows simply re‑route Chinese‑origin material to avoid the existing duties.
