Globe Specialty Metals Files Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Actions Against Brazil, Kazakhstan, Norway and Australia
March 08 2017 - 11:53AM
First Trade Case Filed in the U.S. under
Trump Administration
Globe Specialty Metals, Inc., a subsidiary of Ferroglobe PLC,
(NASDAQ:GSM) (“GSM”) today petitioned the U.S. Department of
Commerce (“Commerce”) and the U.S. International Trade Commission
(“ITC”) to stop and provide relief from unfairly traded silicon
metal imports from Brazil, Kazakhstan, Norway and Australia. In
petitions filed with Commerce and the ITC, GSM outlined deliberate
practices by producers from these four countries to sell silicon
metal at artificially low prices in the U.S., resulting in severe
damage to the competitiveness of U.S.-based companies and the loss
of good U.S. manufacturing jobs.
“The facts clearly show that these companies are
relying on unfair trade and subsidy practices in order to sell
their products into the U.S. market at artificially low prices. By
doing so, they violate international trade law and gain an unfair
advantage over U.S.-based companies, resulting in the loss of
American manufacturing jobs and discouraging investment in the
U.S.,” said Jeff Watson, Executive Vice President of GSM. “Through
this petition, we are seeking to restore a level playing field so
that competition in our industry is fair and all companies have a
chance to win. A favorable decision on this petition will be
critical to GSM’s well-being as a company and our ability to
compete, return to growth, invest in our facilities and create jobs
right here in the U.S.”
The petition has received strong support from
the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing,
Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union
(USW), which represents GSM’s workers at the company’s plants in
Alloy, West Virginia and Niagara Falls, New York, as well as the
Industrial Division of the Communications Workers of America
(IUE-CWA), which represents workers at GSM’s plant in Selma,
Alabama.
“It is high time that we put a stop to the
unrelenting pressure on U.S. jobs and industry caused by unfair
trading practices on the part of foreign countries’ companies, who
dump products at illegally manipulated low prices. For years now,
we have lamented and objected to foreign companies being allowed to
abuse the system and avoid complying with our international trade
standards and rules. These violations have led to devastating
losses, particularly for U.S. workers and their communities. This
petition gives the Trump administration an opportunity to begin
halting and reversing these trends and to restore much-needed
fairness and competitiveness in this industry,” said Leo W. Gerard,
International President of USW.
The petition details multiple examples of unfair
and illegal trade practices that have tilted the playing field
against GSM’s American production facilities and American workers.
As described in the petition, GSM has suffered very serious
financial harm through lost sales and price undercutting by the
imports and has been forced to shut down its plant in Selma,
Alabama, as well as furnaces at other facilities in the U.S.,
resulting in the loss of American jobs that will become permanent
if GSM does not obtain relief.
“American manufacturing is being undercut by
unfair trade practices from foreign corporations, and American
manufacturing workers are paying the price. Over 100 IUE-CWA
members lost their jobs when the Globe plant in Selma, AL closed
due to unfair competition from foreign
suppliers. Unfortunately, the story of these manufacturing
workers in Selma has become all too common. When faced with
these unfair trade practices from abroad, we have to fight
back. That is why IUE-CWA fully supports the antidumping case
being filed by Globe today. We hope that this case will be
reviewed quickly, and that justice will be served,” said James D.
Clark, President of IUE-CWA.
Through this petition, GSM is asking Commerce
and the ITC to enforce existing trade laws and restore the
integrity of the open, rules-based trade environment in the U.S.
Specifically, the petition alleges that imports from Brazil, Norway
and Australia, are being sold at artificially low prices, with
alleged dumping margins ranging as high as 134.9 per cent for
Brazil, 45.7 percent for Norway and 52.8 percent for Australia. The
petition further alleges that producers in Brazil, Kazakhstan and
Australia have received government subsidies that have given them
an unfair advantage and artificially low input costs. This includes
subsidized electricity – the primary input cost for silicon metal
producers. Additionally, the petition alleges that Brazilian and
Kazakh producers receive government subsidies through various tax
incentives. GSM is asking Commerce to impose antidumping and
countervailing duties to offset the impact of these unfair trade
practices on the U.S. silicon metal industry and its workers.
The petition follows the recent announcement by
Canadian authorities of an investigation into whether certain
silicon metal originating in or exported from Brazil, Kazakhstan,
Norway and certain other countries is being sold at unfair prices
in Canada. The Canada Border Services Agency said on February 20,
2017 that it will also investigate whether subsidies are being
applied to certain silicon metal originating in or exported from
these countries.
Silicon metal is a critical raw material
primarily used in the production of silicones, which are used in
hundreds of different consumer applications, as well as in the
production of aluminum alloys and polysilicon, which are key
components in the production of downstream products such as
automobiles, photovoltaic solar panels and semiconductors.
The next steps in the process will be the
initiation of Commerce antidumping and countervailing duty
investigations by March 28, 2017, and a preliminary ITC injury
determination by April 24, 2017.
About GSM
Globe Specialty Metals is a wholly owned U.S.
subsidiary of Ferroglobe, a leading global merchant producer of
silicon metal, silicon-based specialty alloys, and ferroalloys
serving a customer base across the globe in dynamic and
fast-growing end markets, such as solar, automotive, consumer
products, construction and energy. Globe Specialty Metal, Inc.
primarily operates in the United States, with a manufacturing base
consisting of five smelting facilities and several mining
operations across Alabama, Ohio, New York, West Virginia, and
Kentucky. The company also operates and owns several facilities and
mining operations internationally including in Canada, Argentina,
Poland, South Africa and China.
As of January 31, 2017, 776 of GSM’s 1,065 total
employees were located in the U.S.
For more information, visit
http://investor.ferroglobe.com.
Contact details
Contact:
Joe Ragan, CFO
786-509-6925
jragan@ferroglobe.com
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