Dec. 12, 2012
Copper and Brass Producers Protest Alabama Subsidy
Members of the Washington-based Copper & Brass Fabricators Council have joined with U.S. petitioners in an antidumping case on copper tube from China and Mexico to protest subsidies to be paid by the State of Alabama that would undercut the antidumping orders.
The U.S. companies won an antidumping case in 2010, which found that Golden Dragon, a producer of copper tube in China and Mexico, was unfairly pricing their copper tube exports to the United States. The U.S. Department of Commerce levied antidumping duties against Golden Dragon’s imports into the United States. The antidumping duties were designed to offset the unfair trade practices committed by Golden Dragon, which were injuring American producers and workers.
In 2012, Golden Dragon announced plans to build a production facility in Thomasville, Ala. Part of the deal was an unprecedented agreement by the State of Alabama to reimburse Golden Dragon for as much as $20 million in antidumping duties paid to the U.S. government.
"We have no objection to Golden Dragon's building a new production facility in the United States," says Jack Levy, trade counsel to the petitioning U.S. Copper Tube Coalition, whose members include Mueller Industries, Cerro Flow Products, Wieland Copper Products and CMC Howell. "We have a big problem, however, with the agreement by the State of Alabama to reimburse Golden Dragon for up to $20 million in antidumping duties paid to the U.S. government. The Alabama subsidies would directly undercut an important federal law that Golden Dragon has broken.
"Alabama's action is not only bad policy, it is probably unconstitutional. We respectfully urge Alabama to withdraw this unlawful subsidy. If Alabama fails to do so, the federal government should exercise its authority to offset Alabama's subsidy by recollecting from Golden Dragon the full antidumping duties owed by the company to the United States," Levy adds.