For over a decade, the U.S. aluminum industry has been under attack. Illegal subsidization of domestic aluminum production—perpetuated by Russia, the Middle East, China and other bad actors —depressed prices by 30% and caused the closure of dozens of aluminum smelters and thousands of layoffs. In 2000, the United States had 23 operating primary aluminum smelters, employed nearly 16,000 production workers, and produced over 3.6 million tons of aluminum. By the fall of 2015, the U.S. industry was in crisis – U.S. producers had announced closure of all remaining U.S. capacity except for a single pot line —production was cut to a miniscule 765K tons and 4,000 aluminum workers lost their jobs.

In 2015, Aluminum Now (previously known as “CTTF”) began working with partners in the aluminum industry, community members, and congressional allies to encourage the U.S. government to provide broad, comprehensive relief against the threat of state-subsidized aluminum imports.

Upon President Trump’s election, we pushed the administration to immediately understand the gravity of the situation and supported the launch of the Section 232 investigation into the national security threat of aluminum imports.  On March 8th, 2018, President Trump signed a Presidential proclamation imposing tariffs on foreign aluminum imports to protect us from countries that cheat and put U.S. national security first.

Now the U.S. aluminum industry is growing again. Plants are restarting production in Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and across the United States. By the end of 2018, U.S. primary aluminum production is expected to increase by over 60%.

The tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration provide the relief needed to level the playing field for American aluminum workers and foster a thriving aluminum industry. Aluminum Now will continue to fight to protect this critical industry.