The Federal Circuit has affirmed a Court of International Trade decision that curtain wall units are within the scope of the AD and CVD Orders on aluminum extrusions from the People’s Republic of China.  The Federal Circuit opinion, issued January 21, 2015, held that the curtain wall units manufactured by appellant Shenyang Yuanda Aluminum Industry Engineering Co. Ltd. (Yuanda) squarely fit within the scope language of the AD/CVD Orders and did not qualify for the Orders’ finished merchandise exception.

Curtain wall units are made from an extruded aluminum skeleton with a glass filling that are then pieced together with other curtain wall units to form the non-weight bearing exterior of a building.

Appellant Yuanda encountered multiple insurmountable obstacles in its argument to be excluded from the AD/CVD Orders, primarily that parts for curtain walls have been included in the scope since the beginning of the investigation.  In fact, the initiation of antidumping duty investigation and final order both state “subject aluminum extrusion may be described at the time of importation as parts for final finished products…including…curtain walls.” Based on this language, the Court found “no flaw in Commerce’s determination that Yuanda’s curtain wall parts are within the plain language of the Orders.”

Yuanda was also unsuccessful in arguing that the curtain wall units should be excluded under the “finished merchandise” exclusion. To qualify as “finished merchandise,” the product must be a “complete product upon entry.”  Therefore, because curtain wall units are designed to be connected to other curtain wall units in order to form the exterior wall of a building, a single curtain wall unit has no purpose and is not a “complete product upon entry.”  Particularly fatal to its’ argument was that Yuanda conceded that “absolutely no one purchases for consumption a single curtain wall piece or unit.”

Therefore,  Yuanda’s curtain wall units meet the definition of subject aluminum extrusions and are subject to the Orders’ duties. The AD Order imposes duties of 32.79 to 33.28 percent and the CVD Order imposes duties ranging from 8.02 percent and 374.15 percent.

If you have question about AD/CVD duties or AD/CVD scope determinations, contact Frohsin & Barger at (205)-933-4006 ext. 5.