BEIJING: Chinese aluminium foil producer Shantou Wanshun Package Material Stock Co said its subsidiary is suing the United States over twin anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties Washington imposed on its shipments. In a statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, Wanshun said Jiangsu Zhongji Lamination Materials, which was hit with a countervailing duty of 17.14 per cent and an anti-dumping duty of 37.99 per cent earlier this year, had filed a lawsuit with the US Court of International Trade.
Zhongji was among the Chinese foil companies that unsuccessfully filed a joint “no injury” claim with the US International Trade Commission last year as Washington probed whether the companies were unfairly subsidised, and is now trying to reverse the duties on its own. The total duties of 55.13 per cent on Zhongji’s foil were the lowest imposed on Chinese foil makers, Wanshun’s Board Secretary Huang Wei said. This shows the US side had taken some of its arguments into account, she said. “But there are still some unreasonable elements inside” the ruling, she said.
Huang pointed to the United States comparing the prices of China’s aluminium foil exports to South Africa as a reference case. The stock exchange filing noted that Bulgaria would have been a more appropriate choice. The document made no mention of damages being sought but Huang said she hoped the US would remove the twin duties. Aluminium has been a focal point of the US-China trade row, with Washington calling on China, the world’s top producer of the metal, to rein in excess production capacity. — Reuters
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