US industrial policy needs to be systematic, not just ad hoc – Part 2
Our current approach can win economic skirmishes, but not the geopolitical conflict. – Part 2 Impact #5 of ad hoc industrial policy: Failing to use all required tools Industrial policy is often caricatured as just tariffs and subsidies. Mis-framed debates that evaluate the merits of tariffs in...
Collapsed Canada tariff talks put Indiana's aluminium jobs back in the spotlight
Indiana has emerged as an unlikely flashpoint in the latest round of US-Canada trade friction, after Washington's now-collapsed negotiations with Ottawa briefly put a proposed cut to aluminium tariffs on the table, one that industry advocates say would have hit the state's fabrication workforce...
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Humphreys says Aughinish Alumina situation still critical despite the ongoing discussions in Washington
We recently covered a news update that existing supply deals with Rusal’s Aughinish alumina refinery in Ireland would resume as the U.S. had extended the deadline for US and non-US citizens to wind up business with Rusal to late October. However, Minister for Business Heather Humphreys said that...
US aluminium tariff fails to affect China’s April aluminium product shipments
China's exports of aluminium increased in April as U.S. import tariffs failed to have any strong impact on outbound shipments from the country, Reuters reported.China exported 451,000 tonnes of unwrought aluminium and aluminium product last month, a 0.2 per cent increase from 450,000 tonnes...
Recovery of aluminium from scrap drops in the U.S. in February year-over-year
According to aluminium recycling statistics published by the U.S. Geological Survey, Department of Interior, the U.S. aluminium industry purchased an estimated 703 million pounds of aluminium scrap during February 2018, down 3.1 per cent from the February 2017 total. USGS estimates that recovery of...
US-China trade talks end with a long list of demands from US; China State Media sees positive development
Trade talks between the United States and China, led by US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He on Friday, May 5, 2018, resulted in not many tangible achievements other than both the nations agreed upon having more dialogue in the future over US-China trade war. A list...
The U.S aluminium scrap export sees about 9.2% increase in the first two months of 2018
Aluminum imports of ingot, scrap and mill products into the U.S. and Canada (excluding cross-border trade) totalled 362 thousand tonnes in February 2018, up 5 per cent over the February 2017 total of 344 thousand tonnes. U.S. exports of scrap, which is not included in the government’s consumption...
EU to pursue limited trade deal with US following full aluminium and steel tariffs exemptions
The European Union has decided to pursue a limited trade deal with the United States after Washington grants it a full exemption from imported aluminium and steel tariffs, reported the EU’s top trade official on Friday, May 4, 2018. "I would say that a more limited agreement would be the easiest...
Boeing worries about the impact of potential US-China trade war: Anticipates job cuts
President Trump is continuing to keep several countries on toes, especially China, with imported aluminium and steel tariffs and at the same time, keeping workers like Charles Cesmat, a parts manager at a Boeing plant in Renton, Washington in dismay. Boeing is perhaps one of those American...
US to not relief New Zealand from imported aluminium and steel tariffs
New Zealand to be slapped with aluminium and steel tariffs if they want to export to the US – declared the Trump government. While on one hand, the United States has reached agreements for permanent exemptions for some of its allies including Australia and extended reprieve for the EU, Canada, and...
Nord Pool striving to restore access to Rusal’s Swedish aluminium smelter Kubal
The Kubal smelter, Rusal’s sole producer of primary aluminium in Sweden, with a production capacity of 134,000 tonnes was suspended from trading on the Nord Pool energy trading market a couple of weeks ago, in the wake of US sanctions on Russian companies. Within a week, the latter, Europe’s...
European Aluminium says short extension of temporary tariff exemption prolongs uncertainty
European Aluminium, the voice of the entire aluminium value chain, regrets US decision to exempt Europe from the 10% tariff on aluminium products for only one month, starting today until the 1 June 2018. While the industry was requesting a permanent exclusion of tariffs, this short temporary...
Aluminum demand in North America up an estimated 6.1% Y/Y in February 2018
According to the preliminary estimates from the Aluminum Association say that aluminium demand in the United States and Canada (shipments by domestic producers plus imports) totalled an estimated 2.1 million tonnes through February 2018, up 6.1 per cent YoY. Demand for semi-fabricated (mill)...
US turns down South Africa’s appeal for exemptions from imported aluminium and steel tariffs
Among many other countries, South Africa had urged for an exemption from the US imported aluminium and steel tariffs claiming that its metal exports to the US is too marginal to pose any national security threat to the latter nor should affect the aluminium and steel manufacturers there. But...
Trump delays metal tariffs on Canada, EU, Mexico, exempts some others
U.S. President Donald Trump has postponed the imposition of steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada, the European Union and Mexico until June 1, and has reached agreements for permanent exemptions for Argentina, Australia and Brazil, the White House said on Monday. The decisions came just hours before...
LME aluminium prices slip on U.S. tariff delay; China market remains close
Most of the base metals remained rangebund before the pre-Labour Day weekend when the China market remains closed. Benchmark aluminium price on London Metal Exchange dropped to close at US$2224 per tonne on Monday, April 30, down from the last week’s close at US$ 2249 per tonne on Friday, April 27....
US to extend relief to some of its important allies from aluminium and steel tariffs
Temporary exemptions from US imported aluminium and steel tariffs are about to come to an end on Tuesday, May 1, 2018. So, the Trump administration has decided to extend it to some of its allies, but not all, said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in an interview in Washington on late Saturday, April...
ISRI 2018 Convention highlights the changing dynamics in the international aluminium scrap market
The ISRI 2018 Convention, held in Las Vegas in mid-April and hosted by the Washington-based Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), was attended by more than 5,100 people, mostly from North America, and the event hosted scrap buyers and sellers from around the world, despite global trade...
Additional federal measures to prevent transhipment and diversion of aluminium
The Canadian government announced today new measures to prevent transhipment and metal diversion in Canada, in addition to those announced on March 27, 2018. “This announcement reinforces Canada’s position as a reliable jurisdiction to be counted by other countries” said Jean Simard, President and...
Bud brewer hopeful that aluminium tariffs won't hit U.S. allies
Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, is hopeful that the United States will grant permanent exemptions to aluminium imported from allies and wants U.S. Congress to look into price spikes that have already set in. U.S. President Donald Trump last month imposed import tariffs of 25 per...
