The U.S. Department of Commerce announced its preliminary determinations that imports of certain aluminium foil from Oman and Turkey are benefitting from unfair government subsidies.  

Based on these preliminary determinations, the agency will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) to require U.S. importers of certain aluminium foil from Oman and Turkey to deposit estimated countervailing duties at the time of importation.

 “We appreciate the Commerce Department’s preliminary findings that aluminium foil from Oman and Turkey benefits from unfair government subsidies, and thank the Department for its work on these important investigations during a challenging time,” said Tom Dobbins, President and CEO of the Aluminum Association. 

“These determinations are an important step in ensuring that U.S. producers of aluminium foil can compete on a level playing field against overseas competitors – not foreign governments.”

The Commerce Department’s determinations follow the agency’s initiation, on October 19, 2020, of countervailing duty investigations on imports from Oman and Turkey, as well as antidumping investigations on imports of certain aluminium foil from Armenia, Brazil, Oman, Russia, and Turkey.

Based on information gathered to date, the Commerce Department calculated preliminary subsidy margins, as follows:

• Oman:  2.15 percent
• Turkey: 2.79 percent

The next step in these trade actions will be the Commerce Department’s issuance of its preliminary antidumping determinations, which are scheduled to be announced on Wednesday, April 28, 2021.

The certain aluminium foil subject to the Commerce Department’s investigation includes flat-rolled aluminium products that are 0.2 mm or less in thickness (less than 0.0079 inches) in reels weighing more than 25 pounds and that is not backed.

The determination does not cover etched capacitor foil or foil that has been cut to shape. 

Certain aluminium foil is used extensively in food and pharmaceutical packaging, household foil, thermal insulation, cables, electronics, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (“HVAC”) applications and other heat transfer products where properties such as light weight, resistance to corrosion, and formability are desired.

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