WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) today applauded the administration’s use of Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 to impose additional duties on aluminum extrusions — profiles, bars, rods, tubes, and pipes — from Canada. These duties will stack on top of the existing Section 232 tariffs, bringing the combined tariff rate on covered Canadian downstream aluminum products to 100 percent, effective September 15.. This marks a consequential development for American aluminum fabricators: recognition of the merits of a higher tariff rate on downstream aluminum products compared to the tariff on primary aluminum.
The action answers precisely the danger CPA and its fabricator members raised. When reports emerged that a deal with Canada was taking shape, CPA warned that Canadian fabricators would still be able to sell below U.S. producers’ costs even with a 25 percent tariff on their products — because Canadian extruders buy their metal with no tariff and no Midwest Premium, roughly a dollar a pound less. CPA urged the administration to hold the line and to protect the downstream sector where 97 percent of American aluminum jobs are. USTR listened — and acted.
“The government listened, and the government acted — that is what an administration that puts American manufacturing first looks like,” said Jon Toomey, President of CPA. “Ambassador Greer and his team at USTR deserve enormous credit. Rather than trading away the Section 232 protections American producers rely on, they strategically raised the tariff on downstream aluminum products, providing a necessary buffer to offset the difference in the cost of aluminum in Canada versus the United States. Our members invested on the strength of this administration’s tariff policy, and today Washington proved that trust is well placed.”
CPA has long documented why downstream tariff coverage is essential to the American aluminum industry, and has called for additional tariffs to protect aluminum extruders and fabricators from imports. CPA strongly supports the Section 232 tariffs on downstream aluminum products, and welcomes the additional tariff protection for this critical sector—which accounts for 97% of the jobs in the U.S. aluminum industry—in the recent 338 action.
Claims that the new tariffs will produce shortages do not survive contact with the industry’s reality. CPA’s fabricator members report operating at roughly 65 percent of capacity — ample room to welcome home the American market share lost to Canadian imports. The prior 50 percent rate, far from protective given the massive metal price spread between the countries, had not stopped the import flow or reshored the work. A 100 percent tariff on Canadian extrusions provides a much needed spread over the 50 percent tariff applied against primary Canadian aluminum.
“American extruders are running at two-thirds of capacity. The work is coming home, the presses are ready, and the workers are ready,” Toomey added. “We urge the administration to bring this differential over to the underlying Section 232 action, which would greatly amplify the job creation and economic self-reliance.”
# # #
