They haven’t worked.
This time the tariff is going to be 25% without “exceptions or exemptions” effective March 4. Together with a similar-sized duty on steel imports, the ambition once again is to bolster industrial self-sufficiency in the name of national security.
This is not good news for US consumers, judging by the sharp jump in the price of aluminum delivered to the US Midwest.
It’s also highly uncertain just how effective yet higher tariffs will be in rejuvenating the country’s aging fleet of aluminum smelters.
If greater aluminum self-sufficiency is the goal, there’s a much easier way of achieving it in the form of the humble beer can.
Import dependency
Aluminum has yet again been bundled together with steel in Trump’s tariff wars despite very different market dynamics.
While US steel imports account for 23% of the…
