Composite Aluminum Panels Covered by AD/CVD on Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet From China

Aluminum composite panels with thermoplastic cores imported by K-Tex are subject to antidumping and countervailing duty orders on common alloy aluminum sheet from China, the Commerce Department said in an April 29 scope ruling.

The ruling covers panels that have a thermoplastic core made of low-density polyethylene hardener, calcium carbonate and calcium maleate. The core is positioned between two aluminum allow sheets. The panels come in two sizes, 3 millimeters and 4 millimeters, and are advertised as materials for the creation of safety signs.

The AD/CVD orders cover all flat-rolled aluminum product with a thickness of between .2 and 6.3 millimeters. The sheets can be clad or unclad, and they are still subject if they are further processed in a third country.

K-Tex argued that the panels are “unitary articles of commerce” that contain aluminum alloy sheets as only one of their components. Those sheets are only .21 or .23 millimeters thick, it said.

And the panels are heated and compressed together, so they “are not reasonably separable” and cannot be considered subject to the orders, the importer said. The essential character of the composite panels comes from the thermoplastic core, “which gives durability, rigidity, fire resistance, weather and moisture resistance to the finished products,” it said.

Commerce said that neither the plain language of the ruling nor any available (k)(1) factors were enough for it to make a determination. It therefore moved on to consider (k)(2) factors.

First, it said that the composite panels “share essential physical characteristics” with aluminum alloy sheets, and the existence of the core in the composite panels was not enough to “negate” those similarities. It also noted that both products are advertised for, expected to be used in and actually used in the creation of safety signs and shipping vehicles. The two products’ channels of trade are also similar, it said.

As a result, it found the aluminum composite panels are subject to the AD/CVD orders on common aluminum alloy sheet from China.