By David Lawder and David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Commerce Department on Wednesday is expected to impose final anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on Chinese common aluminium sheet products of 96.3 percent to 176.2 percent, sources familiar with the decision told Reuters.
The decision marks the first time that final duties were issued in a trade remedy case initiated by the U.S. government since 1985. The Trump administration has promised a more aggressive approach to trade enforcement by having the Commerce Department launch more anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on behalf of private industry.
The final aluminium sheet duties, however, were reduced from those first imposed in April and July, according to the sources. The initial combined range was 198.4 percent to 280.46 percent.
In 2017, imports of common alloy aluminium sheet from China were valued at an estimated $900 million (£684.8 million), the Commerce Department has said. The flat-rolled product is used in transportation, building and construction, infrastructure, electrical and marine applications.
The U.S. International Trade Commission is scheduled to make its final injury determinations on Dec. 20 after it voted 4-0 in January to authorise the investigation.
U.S. aluminium industry firms including Aleris Corp <ALSD.PK>, Arconic Inc <ARNC.N>, Constellium, Jupiter Aluminum, JW Aluminum Company and Novelis Corp testified in December 2017 about what they termed a surge "in low-priced, unfairly traded imports of common alloy sheet from China."
The firms said the volume of aluminium sheet product imports had increased by nearly 750 percent over the last decade and by more than 91 percent between 2014 and 2017. This resulted in "significant market share gains by Chinese imports at the direct expense of the U.S. industry."
(Reporting by David Lawder and David Shepardson; Editing by James Dalgleish and Cynthia Osterman)
