What started as another round of US trade action in 2025 quickly turned into an aluminium problem for Europe. Washington moved to curb EU aluminium shipments under Section 232, but the EU chose not to answer with aluminium tariffs of its own. That left the adjustment one-sided. As US duties rose, European producers found themselves squeezed across the aluminium chain, from primary metal to processed and aluminium-containing goods.
The turning point came on February 10, when the US announced a 25 per cent tariff on aluminium imports from the EU under Chapter 76 of the tariff schedule, covering unwrought primary aluminium such as ingots. The measures took effect on March 12, applying without quotas or exemptions. For European producers, the cost impact was immediate. Pressure intensified further on June 4, when the US doubled the tariff to 50 per cent, a move that effectively shut the US market for most EU primary aluminium, leaving scrap as the only category exempt from Section 232 duties.
Downstream aluminium pulled into the dispute
The escalation quickly spread beyond primary metal. Semifinished aluminium products —including billets, slabs, bars, rods, extrusions, plates, sheets and foil — were captured under the same tariff regime, first at 25 per cent and later at 50 per cent. European rolling mills and extrusion producers were particularly exposed, as products that had long entered the US under low or zero tariffs suddenly became uneconomic.
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