Letter to Penny Pritzker, Secretary of Commerce - Russian Trade Practices
Letter
Dear Secretary Pritzker:
I write to express my concerns regarding the antidumping investigation of imports of ferrosilicon from the Russian Federation. The U.S. petitioners in this case include Globe Specialty Metals, which has a major manufacturing facility in Niagara Falls, New York.
Globe Specialty Metals reopened a plant in Niagara Falls in 2008 that had been shut down for five years due to unfair import competition. This plant currently supports over 100 jobs in a region of the country that has suffered from surges of dumped imports in the past. Ferrosilicon production is Globe's second largest operation. Unfair trade practices in the U.S. ferrosilicon market have the potential to cripple Globe's overall operations and threaten the continued viability of the Niagara Falls plant.
U.S. petitioners have informed me that a negative preliminary determination was issued in the ferrosilicon investigation because the Russian exporter misreported critical facts needed to calculate the margin of dumping properly. They allege that the Russian exporter portrayed payments received in connection with its sales as revenue received for separate "post-sale" services (such as sizing and warehousing), when these payments should have been treated as part of the revenue received for the merchandise. Additionally, the U.S. petitioners indicate that the Russian exporter misreported the shipment dates for many of its home market sales. If accurate, this misreporting would substantially distort the calculations to determine the potential margin of dumping.
In light of these allegations and the threat they may pose to effective enforcement of our trade remedy laws, we ask that you give full consideration to the U.S. petitioners' concerns. We must ensure that U.S. ferrosilicon producers are competing on a level playing field with their foreign competitors. Strict enforcement of our trade laws is needed to protect American manufacturing companies across the country from unfair foreign practices. Thank you for your consideration in this matter.
Sincerely,
U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer
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