Schumer: Federal Regs Should Protect, Not Hurt, Buffalo Manufacturers

Statement

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer called on the Department of Commerce (DOC) to reverse course in their consideration of a new antidumping policy that could have a negative impact on Upstate New York's manufacturing industry, including companies like Aurubis Buffalo Inc, a copper foundry. Specifically, this potential change would restrict the effectiveness of trade laws that protect domestic manufacturers from an influx of artificially cheap goods in the marketplace.

Schumer noted that Aurubis Buffalo Inc., among hundreds of other companies in New York, would have to compete with artificially low-cost foreign copper if this federal policy goes into effect. Aurubis and others are playing by the rules, and are currently very successful, but this "targeted dumping" hamstrings numerous American companies from competing against cheaper foreign imports. Aurubis Buffalo estimates that if the methodology is changed it could negatively impact the company and could be detrimental to total employment in the Buffalo region.

"Federal regulations should protect, not hurt, Upstate New York manufacturers like Aurubis in Buffalo, upstanding companies who are forced to compete with artificially cheap foreign imports," said Schumer. "I have urged the Department of Commerce to strongly consider the devastating impact a proposed antidumping policy would have on Western New York's copper industry, including Aurubis in Buffalo, in addition to other domestic companies. Aurubis employs 650 people in Buffalo who rely on the federal government to protect them from illegal importing practices such as targeted dumping, and I will continue to fight on their behalf."

"I am mystified why the US Department of Commerce would consider making unnecessary changes to its calculation methodology to significantly weaken our unfair trade laws," said Ray Mercer, President, Aurubis Buffalo Inc.

Targeted dumping occurs when foreign producers, like those in China, try to mask its dumping or artificially cheap goods into the United States by "targeting" the dumping, based on selected customers, regions, or seasons. The producer sells at much lower prices to these targeted buyers, regions or time periods and at higher prices to others in order to hide their dumping of cheap goods into the U.S. market. Both U.S. law and the WTO Antidumping Agreement allow the Department of Commerce to identify and correct for targeted dumping. Presently, once the Commerce Department determines that targeted dumping is occurring, it can "unmask" the dumping by setting any negative dumping margin sales to zero.

However, now Commerce is considering changing the process for determining damages to make the test for targeting more difficult, and narrowing its application by making the adjustment only to the targeted sales, and not to all sales. This would fail to unmask the dumping, and greatly reduce the effectiveness of the dumping laws for U.S. producers. If such changes were implemented, they would result in a serious weakening of the law's ability to address injurious dumping, by permitting significant instances of dumping to be hidden by higher priced sales.

The Aurubis Group is a leading integrated copper group and the world's largest copper recycler. The company specializes in producing marketable copper cathodes from copper concentrates and scrap. These are then processed within Aurubis into finished products such as wire rod, continuous cast shapes, strips made of copper and copper alloys, brass rod and shaped wires, bars and profiles. Customers of the Aurubis Group include companies in the copper semis, electrical engineering, electronics and chemical industries, as well as suppliers of the renewable energies, construction and automotive sectors. Aurubis has approximately 6,400 employees worldwide in Europe, Asia, and North America. Its Buffalo production facility employs 650 people.

Dear Dr. Blank,

I write today with serious concern that the Commerce Department will soon be issuing a new antidumping policy that will restrict the use and effectiveness of our trade laws. The proposed policy, which I understand would significantly weaken the Commerce Department's methodology for identifying and countering targeted dumping, would dramatically inhibit the ability of domestic producers, such as copper and brass bills like Aurubis Buffalo Inc., to compete with unfairly priced foreign imports.

As you know, targeted dumping occurs when foreign producers try to mask their dumping of artificially cheap goods into the United States by "targeting" the dumping, based on selected customers, regions, or seasons. The foreign producer sells at lower prices to these targeted buyers, regions or time periods and at higher prices to others in order to hide their dumping of cheap goods into the U.S. market. Both U.S. law and the WTO's Antidumping Agreement allow the Department of Commerce to identify and correct for targeted dumping -- as the European Union does. There is no reason that the United States should voluntarily weaken its targeted dumping methodology, and thereby reduce the remedies available to our domestic producers under the U.S. unfair trade laws.

Such a change would seriously hurt many companies across the State of New York, such as copper foundry Aurubis Buffalo Inc., which employs 650 people in Buffalo, New York. Aurubis estimates that if the methodology is changed it could cost the company a large number of jobs. They also predict that allowing unscrupulous foreign producers to effectively avoid American antidumping laws altogether could easily put their entire company, as well as many others across my state and the nation, at risk.

I urge you to consider the possible grave impact on domestic producers before implementing any changes to the Commerce Department's current targeted dumping methodology. Without these vital and WTO-consistent protections, domestic production in the U.S. copper and brass industry and others could be gravely endangered by a flood of artificially cheap imports. Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer

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