Chicago 03/11/2015 - Century Aluminium has formed a new coalition to combat Chinese aluminium trade practices, which they argue violates WTO rules and harms US producers, Reuters reported.
The group's website cites subsidized Chinese aluminium production as creating an uneven-playing field for domestic producers.
The coalition said they will call on the US government for "immediate bilateral talks with China to either remove or eliminate these subsidies or face retaliation".
China currently has a 15-percent duty on the export of primary aluminium but shipments of semi-finished and finished metal are tax-free. The country even offers a refund of value-added tax (VAT) on exports of some products, reducing the cost and making it more competitive in foreign markets.
The formation of a coalition follows a similar move by the Aluminum Extruders Council (AEC), which filed a petition against China Zhongwang Holdings Ltd.
The petition alleged that the company "systematically and illegally evaded duties" on aluminium extrusions imported into the United States.
Zhongwang denied any allegations of wrong-doing in a release in the subsequent days.
“Allegations of violation of US anti-dumping and countervailing policy in the Group’s exports to the US have neither factual nor legal foundations,” Zhongwang said.
The coalition formed the aforementioned website and features a short documentary drawing parallels to the recent curtailment at the Hawesville, Kentucky, smelting operation and alleged illegal Chinese operations.
(Editing by Tom Jennemann)