Tariffs and trade shifts: how US policy split aluminium markets in China and the UK
When aluminium prices slipped on both the Shanghai and London exchanges this week, it wasn’t just another market wobble, it was the latest chapter in a trade saga that has stretched over seven years.
What began with a modest tariff in 2018 has grown into a protectionist wall, reshaping how the world’s two biggest aluminium players, China and the UK sell into the American market.
On August 18, US tariffs expanded to cover more aluminium products at a steep 50 per cent rate, just as Chinese smelters reported yet another rise in production. The result was swift: Shanghai’s most-traded aluminium contract fell 0.82 per cent to yuan 20,570 (USD 2,864 a tonne), a two-week low, while London prices slipped 0.4 per cent to USD 2,596.50. For producers, it was a reminder that tariffs and supply gluts often collide at the worst possible moment.
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