Bloomberg
Last Updated: September 24, 2009 05:05 EDT
EU Hits China, Brazil, Armenia With 5-Year Tax on Aluminum Foil
By Jonathan Stearns
Sept. 24 (Bloomberg) — The European Union imposed five- year tariffs
on aluminum foil from China, Brazil and Armenia to help EU producers
including Poland’s Grupa Kety SA compete against cheaper imports.
The duties as high as 30 percent punish Chinese, Brazilian and
Armenian exporters for selling the wrapping in the 27-nation EU below
cost, a practice known as dumping. The levies target such
manufacturers as Shanghai-based Alcoa Aluminum Products Co.
EU producers that also include Novelis U.K. Ltd., Greece’s Symetal
Aluminium Foil Industry SA and Bulgaria’s Alcomet suffered `material
injury’ as a result of dumped imports from China, Brazil and Armenia,
the EU said in a decision today in Brussels. The five-year duties
follow provisional levies introduced six months ago and will take
effect after being published in the Official Journal by Oct. 8.
The tariffs are 17.6 percent on Companhia Brasileira de Aluminio and
any other Brazilian exporters, 13.4 percent on Armenia’s Rusal-Armenal
and any fellow exporters and as much as 30 percent on Chinese
manufacturers.
The EU accepted an offer by Companhia Brasileira de Aluminio to sell
at a minimum price in return for an exemption from the anti-dumping
duty while rejecting a similar proposal by Rusal-Armenal.
The six-month levies were as high as 42.9 percent and the EU will
refund importers the difference with the lower five-year duties. The
trade protection covers aluminum foil in rolls as wide as 650
millimeters (25.6 inches) and a weight exceeding 10 kilograms, with a
thickness between 0.008 millimeter and 0.018 millimeter.
Market Share
China, Brazil and Armenia increased their combined share of the EU
market for the product to 49 percent in the 12 months through June
2008 from 14 percent in 2005, according to the bloc. China’s share
rose to 30.7 percent from less than 1 percent in the period, while
Brazil’s percent and Armenia’s grew to 5.3 percent from zero, the EU
said.
The other main countries that export the aluminum foil to the EU are
Russia, Turkey and Venezuela, according to the EU, which said in April
that none had a market share in the bloc of more than 7.3 percent
during the 12 months through June 2008.
The duties against China, Brazil and Armenia are the outcome of a
probe opened in July 2008 after a dumping complaint by the European
Association of Metals.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Stearns in Brussels at
[email protected]
Last Updated: September 24, 2009 05:05 EDT