USA US President Trump Announces Tariffs on All Aluminium And Steel Imports

Gerd Götz, Director General of European Aluminium commented on Trump's declaration to impose penalties of 25 % on steel and 10 % on aluminium imports. These punitive tariffs are part of Trump's "America First" strategy and should apply from next week on and last for a long time.

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These unprecedented measures threaten to destabilize global trade flows. As a result of the tariff a disruption of the current trading relationship between the United States and Europe are possible, which have strongly interlinked value chains and a significant number of multinationals operating in both territories. It can be also expected that the measures will likely result in a redirection of aluminium products from third countries to Europe. Decisive actions must be taken to neutralise effects on European companies.

European Aluminium calls on the European Commission and EU Member States to protect the aluminium industry following the announcement by US President Trump that a tariff of 10 % will be imposed on all aluminium exports from all countries.

Gerd Götz, Director General of European Aluminium commented on Trump's statement:

“We regret President Trump’s decision to impose a tariff on all aluminium imports independent of their country of origin. European aluminium exports to the US, in view of both their quantity and characteristics, do not pose any threat to US national security. Most importantly, this blanket tariff does not address the root cause of the main challenges faced by the aluminium industry today: the unsustainable and steady increase of aluminium overcapacities in China. This global challenge can only be managed effectively through a global and long-term solution based on multilateral rules and common enforcement such as the creation of a Global Aluminium Forum within G20.

The European value chain is already under enormous pressure due to global overcapacities, the announced measures put thousands of jobs in over 600 plants, many of which are SME’s, in countries such as Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Sweden and Central and East European countries at risk. We urge the European Commission and EU Member States to implement without further delay actions to protect our industrial interests, in line with international trade rules”.

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