North American Aluminum Associations urge president Trump to restore 232 Exemptions for Canada and Mexico

Representatives from three major aluminium associations in North America, from the U.S. Canada and Mexico have sent a joint letter to President Trump today calling for quota-free tariff exemptions on North American aluminium as part of the final U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

They congratulated on reaching an initial agreement on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and expressed their support towards a modernized, trilateral agreement that recognizes the importance of the integrated North American supply chain.

They vowed on working together to resolve the national security concerns related to the Section 232 tariffs on aluminium products. But, urged the United States to reinstate the exemptions from the aluminium tariffs for Canada and Mexico. This, according to the industry representatives will facilitate growth and investment in the aluminium industry, supporting the 852,000 direct and indirect jobs.  The USMCA, according to them cannot work smoothly without exempting Canada and Mexico from the 232 tariffs or quotas.

The associations welcomed the fact that the United States address illegally subsidized imports of aluminium from China through its anti-dumping investigations. Canada recently moved to align its country of origin marking regime for steel and aluminium products to prevent transshipment and Mexico has initiated an anti-dumping case on Chinese aluminium foil imports.

These kinds of efforts will address the national security concerns raised by the Section 232 on aluminium imports. They stood against the tariffs and other trade measures within the North American region.  

They urged for full exemptions from the Section 232 remedy without any tariffs or quotas – for aluminium products within the North American market before the agreement is signed on November 30, 2018 and to address the fundamental problem of Chinese aluminium overcapacity.