WINTER 2017

62 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S

62 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK GLOBALFASTENERNEWS.COM by JOHN WOLZ EDITOR editor@globalfastenernews.com EU SEEKING TO TOUGHEN TRADE REGULATIONS The European Commission issued proposals to substantially strengthen its anti dumping defense and bring duty levels closer to those imposed by the United States. The Commission’s paper “Towards a robust trade policy for the EU in the interest of jobs and growth” calls on EU member states to support updated, strengthened and more robust trade defense instruments, the Europeanbased Fastener+Fixing Magazine executive editor Phil Matten reported. “Our current rules are proving insufficient to combat the foreign competition,” Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said. “Some EU industries have lost thousands of jobs. We cannot stay idle. The EU’s trade defense rules require an urgent update.” The proposals include removing the “Lesser Duty Rule,” which requires antidumping duties to be at the minimum level necessary to eliminate injury, Matten noted. As a result EU anti dumping tariffs are often far lower than those applied by the United States on comparable products. For example, the EU applied average anti dumping duties of 21.1% on certain cold rolled flat steel products, whereas US duties averaged 265.8%. The Commission also does not want to grant ‘market economy status’ to any country, but will instead introduce new methodology for calculating dumping on imports from countries where there are market distortion, Matten explained. This suggests it will retain the method of comparing costs with an analogue country that resulted in 85% antidumping duties on carbon steel fasteners from China in 2009. Other proposals include the strengthening of anti subsidy investigative powers, Matten said. “Within existing regulations the EU has already accelerated the timescale to apply provisional anti dumping duties on steel products and in recent cases applied backdated definitive duties,” Matten reported. “It has also introduced import-licensing requirements on a wide range of steel products including fasteners.” EU anti dumping duties on imports of carbon steel fasteners, originally applied in 2009 on imports from China, were repealed in February. The announcement, which caused consternation amongst EU fastener producers, followed four EU defeats at the WTO Dispute Settlement Body. Matten noted that at the time the Commission “made assurances assured it would look favorably on an application for a new investigation. However, the WTO setbacks have almost certainly made the Commission intent on ensuring it has clear-cut evidence of renewed dumping before initiating an investigation.” “If the Commission is successful in winning support for its proposals the one thing that appears certain about the next investigation on fasteners, whenever it takes place, is it will be tougher, faster and result in substantial duty levels,” Matten explained. BUSINESS FOCUS ARTICLE GLOBALFASTENERNEWS.COM

THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 63 Alfa Tools was honored to be recognized and presented with the 2015 “Be the Best” Supplier of the Year award during the NetPlus Alliance third-annual meeting held during October in San Antonio, Texas. NetPlus is a buying group made up of more than 375 industrial and contractor supplies distributor members who came together to “Plan & Grow” in today’s increasingly competitive markets. NetPlus Alliance says the awards given during the annual meeting are designed to recognize growth, SHAAN AHLUWALIA AND ROSS SHEPARD OF ALFA TOOLS ACCEPT THE NETPLUS SUPPLIER OF THE YEAR AWARD AT THE “PLAN & GROW” ANNUAL MEETING ON OCTOBER 2, 2016. engagement and commitment to the group’s goals. The “Plan & Grow” theme of the meeting appropriately fits Alfa’s long history of helping distributors grow their business. “Alfa Tools has been a preferred supplier with NetPlus Alliance since 2008, had the highest yearover-year growth and added 15 new distributor accounts,” said Jennifer Murphy, president of NetPlus Alliance. Shaan Ahluwalia, Vice President Sales and Marketing, Alfa Tools states, “We are grateful for this award and are truly honored. In 2017, Alfa will be celebrating its 40-year anniversary. During that time, we have worked hard to be a leading supplier of Cutting Tools, Abrasives and Fastener Drive Tools. Our dedication to building strong partnerships is even more evident now that we have received the NetPlus Supplier of the Year Award.” Alfa Tools is a division of Alfa Manufacturing Industries, Inc., a privately held corporation formed in 1977 by the Ahluwalia family. The goal has always been to provide quality precision cutting tools for metal, wood, and concrete. Over the past40 years, the product line has grown to include screw driving products, cutting tools for all types of materials, and bonded and coated Abrasives. Today, Alfa sells over 22,000 SKU’s of industrial quality cutting tools, fastener drive tools, abrasive products, and many other exclusive hard to find products. Alfa is proud of its large selection of USA made products, and of the European production facilities that comprise its wide array of product offerings. The Morton Grove, IL headquarters is accompanied by 8 regional satellite warehouses. Aligned with the best distributors in North America, these warehouses are located in Atlanta, GA, Kansas City, MO, Dallas, TX, Houston, TX, Denver, CO, Salt Lake City, UT, Sacramento, CA and Los Angeles, CA. With a large inventory throughout the country, Alfa is able to serve its customers’ needs with a 24-48 hour turn-around time. NetPlus Alliance is a buying group for industrial and contractor supplies distributors. NetPlus Alliance enables distributors to grow their bottom-line net profit through negotiated rebate and pricing programs. Manufacturers and wholesalers benefit by increasing market share among NetPlus Members through joint marketing and sales programs. NetPlus Alliance is committed to developing strong business relationships between distributors and manufacturers of industrial and construction supplies. For more information about the NetPlus Alliance Supplier of the Year Award or Alfa Tools, call toll free 800-253-2532 or visit www.alfatools.com.