MONTREAL, Feb. 2, 2025
/PRNewswire/ - Canada's aluminium
industry finds unfortunate and highly disruptive the 25% tariffs
announced by the US administration. "We are disappointed, but we
were expecting this and are ready for it," said Jean Simard, President and CEO of the Aluminium
Association of Canada. "This
situation will unfortunately impact workers and consumers in
America with the immediate increase on the price of aluminium."
Our 9,500 Canadian aluminium workers produce the metal that is
processed, transformed and fabricated into parts, components, and
everyday products by more than 500,000 well-paid American
manufacturing workers, generating more than $200 billion in
economic output in the US economy alone.
Our economies are integrated because it makes sense, because it
benefits workers, consumers, and communities on both sides of the
border.
As we have done in the past, industry and governments will work
hand-in-hand to maintain our domestic aluminium industrial
ecosystem, a 100-year-old plus legacy, contributing to North America's defense and economic
security.
We will continue working alongside our governments, our
Ambassador and our Canadian industrial business and union
colleagues, maintaining a united front.
We will also actively reach out to our stakeholders in the US –
customers, entrepreneurs, businesses, workers, elected officials –
whose daily livelihood thrives on the use of our metal.
Going forward the focus for our industry and our countries must
be set on addressing the devastating impacts of unfair Chinese
trading practices stemming from massive state subsidies on the
entire aluminium ecosystem. These non-market policies and practices
of the last two decades have hurt our workers and businesses,
shuttered smelters, and made it harder for our responsibly produced
metal to compete. Canada will not
be a transshipment risk or a vector for trade practices that could
harm our collective economic security.
We have been working very closely with US government and
industry to align our trade tool kit to protect fortress
North America, including the most
recent implementation of 25% surtax on imports of China's aluminium products. Other measures
taken over the last five years include:
- In 2024, Government of Canada
provided $10.5 million over three
years for the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to create a
dedicated Market Watch Unit.
- Creating a new regime to address circumvention and providing
more flexibility to apply higher dumping duty rates when there are
market distortions.
- Creating and implementing in 2019 an Aluminium Imports
Monitoring System.
- Developing and implementing the world's first and only
operating aluminium digital traceability system, ensuring
real-time tracking of metal shipments coming out of the gate.
This is why Canadian aluminium must remain exempt of any
tariffs, because of its strategic role within North America's integrated industrial value
chain. While the US produces, at best, one million metric tons a
year of primary metal, it consumes six times that amount. Imposing
tariffs will only raise costs for US consumers and businesses in
the middle of inflation reduction efforts.
About the Aluminium Association of Canada
Founded in 1990, the Aluminium Association of Canada (AAC) represents the three Canadian
world-class aluminium producers: Alcoa, Alouette, and Rio Tinto.
Operating nine smelters in Canada,
eight of which in Quebec,
employing over 9,500 workers. The AAC and its members are active in
the development of best practices in health and safety and
responsible low CO2 production. For more information,
visit aluminium.ca or X @AAC_aluminium.
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SOURCE Aluminium Association of Canada
