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Trade Commission Finds Chinese Aluminum Wire, Cable Export Harms US Industry

United Nations Expresses Concerns About Deteriorating Situation at Hong Kong Campus

The United Nations is calling on Hong Kong authorities to address the humanitarian crisis in the city’s Polytechnic University (PolyU). Rubert Colville, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the situation at the university was “clearly deteriorating” and urged the local authorities to “facilitate a peaceful solution,” according to a Nov. 19 press briefing. Intense clashes between police and protesters at PolyU began this weekend. On Sunday, the police surrounded the school and sealed off any exits preventing protesters from leaving. People were also prevented from entering, aside from medics and special mediators who arrived at the scene. Following the police barraging the campus with tear gas and projectiles, hundreds have either fled or voluntarily surrendered to the police. On Nov. 20 morning, John Lee, Hong Kong’s…

A man drives a forklift past rolls of aluminum coil for export, at a workshop of a company manufacturing aluminum products in Huaibei, Anhui Province, China on July 22, 2018. (Reuters)

WASHINGTON—The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) on Nov. 20 said it had determined that the U.S. industry was materially injured by below-cost imports of aluminum wire and cable from China, locking in U.S. anti-dumping and countervailing duties.

The U.S. Commerce Department in October said its final determination that Chinese exporters sold aluminum wire and cable at less than fair value in the United States. Such imports from China amounted to $115 million in 2018, it said.

The ITC said it would release a public report on its investigation backing the Commerce Department’s findings on Jan. 6.

In its final determination, Commerce assigned a dumping rate of 58.51 percent to 63.47 percent for the wire and cable imports from China. It assigned a subsidy rate ranging from 33.44 percent to 165.63 percent to the Chinese producers.

U.S. producers Encore Wire Corp of Texas and Southwire Co. of Georgia had petitioned for relief from what they described as subsidized imports from China.

The Trump administration has stepped up enforcement of U.S. trade law, focusing heavily on what it calls subsidized imports from China. In October, it said it had initiated 184 new anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations since U.S. President Donald Trump took office, a 235 percent increase from the comparable period in the previous administration.

The ITC on Tuesday backed Commerce’s finding of material injury from mattress imports from China.

The findings come amid strains in efforts by the United States and China—the world’s two largest economies—to work out an interim trade agreement before the end of the year.

By Andrea Shalal

This article is from the Internet:Trade Commission Finds Chinese Aluminum Wire, Cable Export Harms US Industry

Israel Heads Toward Unprecedented Third Election Within a Year

JERUSALEM—Israeli kingmaker politician Avigdor Lieberman on Wednesday refused to endorse a candidate for prime minister, blaming both the contenders engaged in a tense standoff that has paralyzed Israeli politics and pushing the country toward a likely third election in less than a year. Lieberman’s comments came ahead of a midnight deadline for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rival, Benny Gantz, to form a coalition. Without Lieberman, Gantz appears unable to secure the required majority in parliament to be prime minister. If Israel is forced into a third election, it would be entering uncharted waters, with opinion polls already predicting a very similar deadlock. But a new campaign could benefit the embattled Netanyahu, who is expected to be indicted on corruption charges in the coming weeks. Netanyahu would be best-positioned to fight…