The Finishing Contractors Association(FCA)has responded to a recent ruling by the U.S.Department of Commerce making unitized Chinese curtainwall subject to a tariff.In the memo,issued by Ed Zaucha,CEO of APG International Inc.in Glassboro,N.J.,to the association's Architectural Glass and Metal Committee,he looks to the future and questions what might lie ahead for the U.S.curtainwall industry.
Among the group's predictions,Zaucha outlines what will happen immediately following the ruling."In the next few days(approximately two weeks at most),Commerce will send U.S.Customs and Border Protection(Customs)instructions for all the U.S.ports to collect anti-dumping duty and countervailing duty cash deposits on any Chinese imports of curtainwall units and parts,"he writes.
He also suggests that the Northern California Glass Management Association(NCGMA),which filed the scope inquiry requesting that the Commerce Department review the Antidumping Duty(AD)and Countervailing Duty(CCVD)Orders on Curtain Wall Units and Other Parts of a Curtain Wall Systems from the People's Republic of China(PRC),"consider notifying and consulting with(i)Commerce's Customs Enforcement group and(ii)U.S.Customs and Border Protection to ensure that this decision is efficiently and fully enforced…"
Zaucha also addresses the potential for an appeal by Chinese curtainwall producers and importers."If this occurs,it would be the Chinese producers/importers versus the United States…"
In addition,Zaucha provided further thoughts on the tariff to USGNN.com™.
"The tariff is quite significant(407.3 percent of the aluminum component and fabrication costs of the units)and,quite obviously,will have a dramatic impact on these importers.It is my opinion(and that of other contractors in our industry)that the ruling should be retroactive to the original ruling date because the original ruling quite clearly stated it applied to'curtainwalls'(as the Commerce Department recently ruled),"he says."Accordingly,our Architectural Glass Sector Committee(of the Finishing Contractors Association)and various other interested parties are now working with the Department of Commerce and Customs and Border Protection on enforcement and on the question of retroactive enforcement of the penalties and duties that were to be enforced as of the tariff's enactment in May 2011."
