United States International Trade Commission Common
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
_________________________________________________________________ UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION Washington, DC _________________________________________________________________ COMMON ALLOY ALUMINUM SHEET FROM CHINA Prehearing Report Investigation Nos. 701-TA-591 and 731-TA-1399 (Final) PUBLIC VERSION Staff assigned: Nathanael Comly, Investigator (205-3174) Julie Duffy, Investigator (708-2579) Daniel Matthews, Industry Analyst (205-5991) Emily Burke, Economist (205-3191) David Boyland, Accountant (708-4725) Lita David-Harris, Statistician (205-2537) Darlene Smith, Statistical Assistant (205-2773) David Goldfine, Attorney (708-5452) Douglas Corkran, Supervisory Investigator (205-3057) October 16, 2018 PREFACE As required by section 207.22 of the U.S. International Trade Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure (19 C.F.R. § 207.22), this prehearing staff report contains information concerning investigation Nos. 701-TA-591 and 731-TA-1399 (Final): Common Alloy Aluminum from China. The Commission will hold a public hearing in connection with this proceeding beginning at 9:30 a.m. on October 30, 2018, in the Hearing Room of the U.S. International Trade Commission Building, Washington, DC. Requests to appear at the hearing are due to be filed in writing with the Secretary to the Commission not later than the close of business (5:15 p.m.) on October 24, 2018.1 All persons desiring to appear at the hearing and make oral presentations should attend a prehearing conference (if deemed necessary) at 9:30 a.m. on October 29, 2018, at the U.S. International Trade Commission Building. Prehearing briefs must be in conformity with section 207.23 of the Commission’s rules (19 C.F.R. § 207.23), and should, to the extent possible, refer to the record and include information and arguments which the party believes relevant to the subject matter of the Commission’s determinations under section 705(b) and 735(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. § 1671d(b) and 1673d(b)). Prehearing briefs must be filed on or before October 23, 2018. If prehearing briefs contain business proprietary information, a non-proprietary version is due October 24, 2018. Any person not an interested party may submit a brief written statement of information pertinent to the proceeding within 1 Notices of participation must include a list of witnesses and should indicate the amount of time requested for presentations. the time specified and in the manner specified for the filing of prehearing briefs, in conformity with section 207.23 of the Commission’s rules (19 C.F.R. § 207.23). All oral presentations shall be in conformity with section 207.24 of the rules (19 C.F.R. § 207.24) and each party shall limit its presentation to: (a) a summary of the information and arguments contained in its prehearing brief; (b) an analysis of the information and arguments contained in the prehearing briefs of other parties; and (c) information not available at the time its prehearing brief was filed. Persons other than parties in this proceeding appearing at the hearing shall limit their presentations to brief statements of their positions with respect to the subject matter of the proceeding. A party may provide written testimony as provided in section 207.24(b) of the Commission’s rules (19 C.F.R. § 207.24(b)). CONTENTS Page Part I: Introduction ................................................................................................................ I-1 Background ................................................................................................................................ I-1 Statutory criteria and organization of the report ..................................................................... I-2 Statutory criteria ................................................................................................................... I-2 Organization of report ........................................................................................................... I-3 Market summary ....................................................................................................................... I-4 Summary data and data sources ............................................................................................... I-5 Previous and related investigations .......................................................................................... I-6 Nature and extent of subsidies and sales at LTFV .................................................................... I-9 Subsidies ................................................................................................................................ I-9 Sales at LTFV ........................................................................................................................ I-10 The subject merchandise ........................................................................................................ I-11 Commerce’s scope .............................................................................................................. I-11 Tariff treatment ................................................................................................................... I-12 The product ............................................................................................................................. I-13 Description and applications ............................................................................................... I-13 Manufacturing processes .................................................................................................... I-15 Domestic like product issues ................................................................................................... I-22 Brazing stock ........................................................................................................................ I-24 Can stock ............................................................................................................................. I-31 i CONTENTS Page Part II: Conditions of competition in the U.S. market ............................................................ II-1 U.S. market characteristics ....................................................................................................... II-1 U.S. purchasers ......................................................................................................................... II-1 Channels of distribution ........................................................................................................... II-2 Geographic distribution ........................................................................................................... II-2 Supply and demand considerations ......................................................................................... II-3 U.S. supply ............................................................................................................................ II-3 U.S. demand ......................................................................................................................... II-7 Substitutability issues ............................................................................................................. II-11 Lead times .......................................................................................................................... II-11 Knowledge of country sources ........................................................................................... II-12 Factors affecting purchasing decisions............................................................................... II-12 Comparisons of domestic products, subject imports, and nonsubject imports ................ II-15 Comparison of U.S.-produced and imported CAAS ............................................................ II-16 Elasticity estimates ................................................................................................................. II-19 U.S. supply elasticity ........................................................................................................... II-19 U.S. demand elasticity ........................................................................................................ II-19 Substitution elasticity ......................................................................................................... II-20 Part III: U.S. producers’ production, shipments, and employment ....................................... III-1 U.S. producers ......................................................................................................................... III-1 Recent developments in U.S. industry ................................................................................ III-4 U.S. production, capacity, and capacity utilization ............................................................... III-11 Alternative products .......................................................................................................... III-14 U.S. producers’ U.S. shipments and exports ......................................................................... III-16 U.S. producers’ inventories ................................................................................................... III-21 U.S. producers’ imports and purchases ................................................................................ III-22 U.S. employment, wages, and productivity .......................................................................... III-25 ii CONTENTS Page Part