Platts opens consultation on P1020A US aluminum import duty calculation

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, is opening a consultation process regarding its P1020A aluminum US Import Duty calculation and related US Midwest implied duty unpaid indicative values.

Specifically, Platts is seeking market feedback regarding whether the P102A US Import Duty calculation should reflect new tariffs on US imports from Canada and Mexico announced Feb. 1, 2025 by President Donald Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

The P1020A US Import Duty currently is calculated in cents/lb (MMOEU00) and in $/mt (MMOHU00), and reflects an implied FOB Canada value and a 10% levy for imports of primary aluminum. The calculation reflects a Canada location basis, as around 85% of US P1020 purity aluminum imports come from Canada, according to recent US trade data.

The import duty calculation and related duty-unpaid indicators were launched in 2018, following the implementation of US Section 232 tariffs during the Trump's first term, and were introduced to complement Platts benchmark Midwest US Transaction Premium and the US Midwest Transaction Price (all-in) assessments for P1020 aluminum, which are assessed on a delivered, duty-paid basis. Platts DDP assessments reflect the delivered Midwest price of P1020 from all origins.

As the new tariffs are expected to be implemented under a separate trade act from the initial US Section 232 tariffs, Platts is seeking feedback regarding the P1020A US Import Duty calculation and the following scenarios:

1. The calculation continues to reflect only the 10% tariffs implemented under US Section 232 or is updated to reflect the new tariffs implemented under the IEEPA
2. The Section 232 basis for the calculation remains unchanged due to uncertainty regarding the length of time new IEEPA tariffs might remain in place, as well as the tariff rate that will be applied to Canadian aluminum imports
3. The calculation's origin basis is expanded or changed from its current FOB Canada basis

Platts welcomes feedback on the above, as well as additional scenarios, and on the timeframe for introducing any changes emanating from this consultation.

The current calculation for the P1020A US Import Duty is as follows:

1. Deduct the P1020A US Duty Freight Factor ($/mt: AFLSA00; cents/lb: AFLSB00) from the US Midwest Transaction Price (MMAAF10) to derive an implied FOB Canada value
2. Divide the FOB value by 1.1, creating an implied duty-unpaid FOB value
3. Multiply this implied duty-unpaid value by 0.1 to generate the P1020A US Import Duty

The P1020A US Import Duty is used to calculate Implied Duty Unpaid values including: Aluminum P1020 MW US Transaction Premium (Implied Duty-Unpaid) delivered US Midwest (MMOFU00) and Aluminum P1020 Transaction Price (Implied Duty-Unpaid) delivered US Midwest (MMOGU00).

The assessments that would be impacted by any change to the P1020A US Import Duty calculation include:

Please send all comments and questions to aluminum@spglobal.com and pricegroup@spglobal.com by Feb. 17.

For written comments, please provide a clear indication if comments are not intended for publication by Platts for public viewing. Platts will consider all comments received and will make comments not marked as confidential available upon request.