Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney obtained a significant victory on behalf of the Coalition of American Glass Manufacturers, a trade association representing U.S. manufacturers of glass containers, with the U.S. Department of Commerce announcing affirmative preliminary determinations in the countervailing duty investigations of imports of certain glass containers from China.

Commerce’s preliminary findings indicate that Chinese glass container producers are benefitting from a number of countervailable subsidies. These subsidies include preferential lending, tax programs, grants, and other forms of assistance that provide unfair advantages to Chinese glass container producers over their U.S. counterparts.

Chuck Samuels, lead attorney for the Coalition and chair of Buchanan’s International Trade Practice, remarked, “We are very pleased that Commerce preliminarily found that Chinese producers of glass containers have received unfair government subsidies. These subsidies are enabling these producers to sell their products at unfairly low prices that harm American glass container manufacturers and their workers.”

The Department of Commerce plans to announce its final determination in this case on or about November 12, 2015. If the final determination is affirmative, the U.S. International Trade Commission will make a final determination by December 2015. If both determinations are affirmative, duties will be imposed on glass container imports from China.

The Coalition is represented by Buchanan’s International Trade Section, which has extensive experience assisting industries in addressing unfair trade practices. Buchanan’s team includes seasoned litigators and trade experts who are well-versed in the complex legal and economic issues involved in trade remedy investigations.

Keep an eye out for the final determination later this year to see how this could potentially impact the glass wine bottle industry in the U.S.