Tariffs & HTS
China aluminum panels: U.S. opens AD/CVD circumvention case
Commerce opened a circumvention inquiry on October 2, 2026 into narrowly defined aluminum composite panels made in China by Shanghai Alumetal and exported to the United States. The question is whether those panels evade the existing antidumping and countervailing duty orders on Chinese common alloy aluminum sheet. The notice starts an inquiry; it does not make a final circumvention finding or set a new universal duty rate.
What changed
The products at issue have a low-density polyethylene core permanently bonded between two aluminum sheets, each no thicker than 0.2 mm, an overall panel thickness above 0.2 mm and no more than 6.3 mm, and 1100 alloy.
The producer named in the notice is Shanghai Alumetal Decorative Material Co. Commerce drew on an earlier scope inquiry concerning panels imported by Aluminum Line Products Company.
For entries already under suspension, Commerce says it will direct CBP to continue suspension and apply the rate that would apply if the panels were found covered.
If a later preliminary or final finding is affirmative, additional unliquidated entries may become subject to suspension and deposits, potentially including entries before initiation within the stated regulatory limit. The notice sets a target of 300 days for a final decision unless the inquiry is rescinded.
It does not provide a panel-specific deposit percentage; the written product description and CBP instructions matter more than a tariff-code match alone.
Checks for an importer or broker
- Compare manufacturer, Chinese production and export path, alloy, panel thickness, sheet thickness and LDPE core against the precise inquiry description.
- Identify any unliquidated entries of matching panels, including entries already suspended, and ask the broker which CBP instructions and deposits apply.
- Track Commerce’s preliminary and final findings before changing landed-cost assumptions; the October 2 notice alone is not an affirmative circumvention ruling.