The aluminium war between Washington and Beijing

Anti-dumping measures on Chinese imports with taxes from 48.64 to 106.09%. Verification with the International Trade Commission. "Strong dissatisfaction" of Beijing. This week, Liu He, economic advisor to Xi Jinping, will visit the United States.

Washington (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The US Department of Commerce has acknowledged that aluminum foil imported from China is being sold in the United States at a bargain price. This is due to the fact that the Chinese industries have economic subsidies from their government and overproduction is aimed at export, typical of the Chinese economy.

The Aluminium Association said in a statement that antidumping and countervailing duties would be levied on a number of Chinese firms, with dumping margins ranging from 48.64 % to 106.09 % and anti-subsidy rates of 17.14 % to 80.97 %.

Taxes will be implemented for five years, but for now they are pending, awaiting a decision by the International Trade Commission (ITC), which should verify the damage caused by Chinese dumping on US producers. The decision is expected for March 15th.

Last month, a group of US aluminum producers showed the ITC how much their industry was devastated by Chinese imports and the need for anti-dumping measures.

In 2016, the US imported 389 million dollars of aluminum foil from China.

Beijing has expressed “strong dissatisfaction” with the United States imposing anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Chinese aluminium foil, the Ministry of Commerce accusses it of "disregard for the rules of the World Trade Organization" and of wanting to apply taxes "without any evidence".

The tension between the United States and China grows and there is a risk of a commercial war. US President Donald Trump has long threatened to impose taxes on imports of aluminum and steel from China, which "destroy the jobs" of the Americans.

This week, Xi Jinping's leading economic advisor, Liu He, will visit the US for an exchange of views "on the China-US relationship and on economic and trade cooperation between the two nations".