The U.S. Commerce Department has introduced new tariffs on aluminium foil imported from China, Bloomberg reports, having found that such products were receiving state subsidies to be sold below fair market value in the U.S.
The tariffs will range from 49% to 106% as punishment for dumping onto the U.S. market, with an additional 17-81% in response to subsidies that Chinese producers have received.
The issue is the latest in a round of trade restrictions brought in by the Trump administration to make good on his promises to crack-down on ‘lop-sided’ trade between the U.S. and China. Last month the U.S. slapped duties on imports of Chinese-made washing machines and solar panels, with China in turn taxing American sorghum.
Heidi Brock, CEO of the Aluminium Association in the U.S., told Bloomberg, “U.S. aluminium foil producers are among the most competitive producers in the world, but the cannot compete against products that are sold at unfairly low prices and subsidies by the government of China.”