On February 5, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) officially initiated a Changed Circumstances Review (CCR) to assess the market economy status (MES) of Armenia within the framework of the anti-dumping (AD) investigation on aluminum foil products imported from Armenia. This decision was made by the DOC after a 45-day review period of Armenia’s official request submitted on December 21, 2023.
This is the second time Armenia has submitted a request to the DOC to consider its MES. Previously, on March 21, 2023, the Armenian Minister of Economy sent a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce requesting a reconsideration of Armenia’s MES without referencing specific AD/CVD orders on a particular product. Consequently, under DOC regulations, the Government of Armenia submitted a follow-up letter on December 21, 2023, requesting the DOC to consider MES within the context of the AD case on aluminum foil (case number A-831-804).
The DOC’s official announcement of the initiation of this review was published in the Federal Register on February 13, 2024. From the date of publication, interested parties have 30 days to submit comments and an additional 14 days to submit rebuttals. The DOC is required to issue its final determination within 270 days from the initiation date (expected by November 2024).
To submit relevant comments, parties must use the Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov with the docket number ITA-2024-0001.
Currently, there are 12 countries that the DOC considers to be non-market economies in trade remedy investigations involving exports to the United States. These countries include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. According to U.S. law, a country is considered a market economy if it meets six criteria outlined in Section 771(18)(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, which include:
(i) The extent of currency convertibility; (ii) The extent to which wage rates are determined by free bargaining between labor and management; (iii) The extent of foreign investment in the country; (iv) The extent of government ownership or control of production and allocation of resources; (v) The extent of government control over the allocation of resources and the price and output decisions of enterprises; (vi) Other relevant factors.