APAA requests participation in proposed North American aluminum alliance

The American Primary Aluminum Association is requesting involvement in a proposed North American aluminum industry alliance to ensure that the interests of US primary aluminum smelting are fully represented in upcoming reviews of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the group said April 11.

"The APAA represents well over half of the remaining primary aluminum production in the United States," the APAA said in a statement released by the Wiley Rein law firm, the group's legal counsel. "If a North American Aluminum Trade Committee is formed, the APAA looks forward to directly participating and representing the interests of its US members."

Aluminum industry associations in the US, Canada and Mexico sent a letter to the trade representatives of their respective governments in March to lobby for the creation of a trilateral committee focused on the coordination of North America's aluminum industry trade priorities ahead of the 2026 review for the USMCA. The letter was signed by the US Aluminum Association, the Aluminium Association of Canada and the Instituto Mexicano del Aluminio.

The APAA represents Century Aluminum and Magnitude 7 Metals, two of the US' three companies that own operational and curtailed primary aluminum smelters in the country. The group is a separate entity from the Aluminum Association and does not share either of its members. The Aluminum Association's membership includes primary aluminum producer Alcoa and many downstream aluminum producers, secondary producers and consumers.

"In addition to the US association that signed the letter- the Aluminum Association- there are other critically important entities representing the US aluminum industry," the APAA said. "The APAA also believes that organized labor, which represents a substantial portion of the American aluminum industry's workers, should be included on the committee."

The APAA's request for involvement in the proposed North American aluminum alliance follows a similar request issued by the US-based Aluminum Extruders Council on April 9. The AEC is also seeking involvement in the group to advocate for the interests of downstream aluminum extruders that it feels are not fully represented by the Aluminum Association.

AEC members filed petitions in 2023 with the US Commerce Department and the US International Trade Commission to initiate antidumping and countervailing duty investigations into aluminum extrusion imports from multiple countries. Wiley is representing the petitioners in the cases.

Background of North American alliance

In March, the three North American aluminum associations behind the alliance proposal suggested that the collaboration could comprise government, industry and nongovernmental stakeholders to address challenges in the region's aluminum industry.

The alliance would seek to tackle unfair aluminum trade, reduce market distortions, expand regional aluminum import monitoring, enhance trade remedy enforcement and advance sustainability agendas. Many of these issues are linked to a USMCA provision that exempted Canada and Mexico from the US' broad 10% aluminum tariffs enforced under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.

The associations also highlighted trade concerns involving the potential transshipment of unfairly traded aluminum through Mexico into the US and Mexico's failure to implement a robust aluminum import monitoring system, which the US and Canada have already put in place as part of the USMCA.

APAA pushes for expanded agenda

The APAA said it welcomed and recognized the need for collaboration among the USMCA governments and North America's aluminum industries and agrees with the main initiatives set forth by the proposed alliance, but it added that "the agenda must go further."

"Collaboration in the USMCA region must also address third countries' unfair trade practices, including those within our region, and particularly the need for a smelted-and-cast requirement in rules of origin," it said, adding that imports from Mexico into the US have also had a negative impact on the US industry. "How any trilateral aluminum associations' goals are pursued will significantly impact the US primary industry, and the viability of these endeavors will largely depend on the whole of the US primary aluminum industry's support."

The APAA's suggestions mirror issues presented in the AEC's April 9 statement.

Total US aluminum imports from Mexico have increased each year since the 2019 start of the USMCA, according to Commerce data. Shipments in 2019 fell to their lowest point since at least 2010, totaling about 38,000 mt. Imports have since risen, reaching over 114,000 mt in 2022 and about 105,000 mt in 2023.

APAA member Century currently has two operational smelters in the US, with a third facility fully curtailed. The company unveiled in March that it may move forward with the construction of a new aluminum smelter, which would be the first such facility built in the US in 45 years, pending potential funding from the US Department of Energy. Meanwhile, Magnitude 7's sole smelter in Missouri was fully curtailed earlier this year.