This Morning in Metals: EPA Reverses Ruling that Blocked Alaska Mining Project

This morning in metals news, the EPA reversed an Obama-era decision regarding an Alaskan mining project, the Federal Reserve issued its first rate cut since the financial crisis and a Chinese billionaire is alleged to have instituted a scheme to avoid $1.8 billion in tariffs on aluminum exported to the U.S.
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EPA Decision Undoes Obama-Era Ruling

The EPA issued a ruling that reversed an Obama-era ruling that had blocked an Alaskan mining project, CNN reported.
According to the report, the Pebble Mine project had previously been blocked because the EPA during the Obama administration determined the project would have adverse effects on the area’s fish habitat.

Fed Issues First Rate Cut Since 2008

As many had expected, the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced its first interest rate cut since 2008.
The Fed and Chairman Jerome Powell have come in from criticism by President Donald Trump for previous rate increases, arguing they were hampering the economy’s momentum.
The rate decrease announced Wednesday come in at a quarter of a point, down to 2-2.25%.
“Job gains have been solid, on average, in recent months, and the unemployment rate has remained low,” the Fed said. “Although growth of household spending has picked up from earlier in the year, growth of business fixed investment has been soft. On a 12-month basis, overall inflation and inflation for items other than food and energy are running below 2 percent. Market-based measures of inflation compensation remain low; survey-based measures of longer-term inflation expectations are little changed.”

Chinese Billionaire Accused of Scheme to Avoid $1.8B in Aluminum Tariffs

In a 53-page indictment released by a federal grand jury this week, a Chinese billionaire is accused of misrepresenting aluminum exports to the U.S. as pallets in an effort to avoid $1.8 billion in aluminum tariffs.
“The 53-page indictment alleges that China Zhongwang Holdings Limited, Asia’s largest aluminum extrusion company; Zhongtian Liu, the company’s former president and chairman; and several individual and corporate co-defendants lied to U.S. Customs and Border Protection to avoid paying the United States $1.8 billion in anti-dumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD) that were imposed in 2011 on certain types of extruded aluminum imported into the United States from China,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Central District of California said in a release.
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According to the documents, the aluminum exports were simple extrusions, rather than pallets. The products, misrepresented as pallets in order to circumvent tariffs, were then sold “to related entities to fraudulently inflate the company’s revenues and deceive investors around the world,” the indictment alleges.