Wauconda, Illinois – The Aluminum Extruders Council (AEC) stands in support of the Aluminum Association’s position that the Trump Administration must not impose quotas on imported primary aluminum products. Considering the disruption of this vital supply chain because of the Russian sanctions, any additional restraint of imported aluminum into the U.S. aluminum supply chain will lead to work stoppages at extrusion plants and their customers. Extrusion buyers will be forced to source parts from foreign suppliers to maintain production. In this case, the country most likely to supply these parts will be China.
The entire U.S. aluminum industry has made it clear to the Administration during the 232 Investigation that China IS THE THREAT to our industry. We are sure that President Trump does not want to lose the valuable jobs, innovation, and investment to the Chinese.
In the meantime, continued negative speculation about the U.S. aluminum supply will further increase aluminum prices and U.S. premiums, which will make aluminum extrusions and parts even less competitive against foreign suppliers. This is exactly what we made clear to the Administration during the 232 Investigation. It had been our hope and ambition that the Investigation would lead to solutions that would deal with the Chinese threat. Instead, the U.S. aluminum industry finds itself more vulnerable to China than ever.
The AEC calls on the Administration to empower this industry by ensuring its access to the very raw materials the aluminum industry needs to support a very vibrant and growing supply chain in the manufacturing base. Therefore, the Department of Commerce must not jeopardize these American jobs by further restraining access to primary aluminum by imposing quotas.