Aluminum imports from Canada into the U.S. have been exempted from the Section 232 tariffs since May of 2019. The Trump administration introduce the tariffs, which are designed to protect national security interests, in 2018.

In a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthzier dated May 20 of this year, Tom Dobbins, president and CEO of the Aluminum Association, Washington, mentions the exemptions extended to Canadian and Mexican imports, stating, “Those agreements, which took effect one year ago and prioritized a shared commitment to monitor imports from outside the region, have allowed for the return of consistent and reliable trade of aluminum and aluminum products within North America. This is particularly important as we move toward entry into force of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).”

The USMA is scheduled to go into force July 1. In Senate hearings on U.S trade policy in June, Lighthizer indicated that the Trump administration likely would reinstate the tariffs if imports from Canada were higher than before. The introduction of quotas also has been mentioned.

"I would say there have been surges of steel and aluminum, substantially from Canada and some from Mexico, and it is something that we are looking at," Lighthizer said during the June 17 Senate hearing on trade policy. "The way the agreement worked is both countries agreed that they would maintain substantially the same trade as they have before, but we are seeing surges in some products."

According to Reuters, lifting of the exemption completely “would slash Canadian imports and trigger a large price rise, anchoring the viability of high-cost U.S. smelters such as those owned by Century Aluminum and Magnitude 7 Metals.”

The news outlet adds that the aluminum market is pricing in the possibility of the U.S. replacing Canada’s exemptions with quotas.

Reuters reports that the U.S. premium has fallen below $180 per metric ton from roughly $400 per ton during most of last year because of reduced demand brought on be pandemic-related lockdowns.

“The market is trying to (price in) the odds of the U.S. giving Canada a hard quota,” Reuters reports CRU analyst Gregory Wittbecker as saying.

“Canada’s exemption completely evaporated the intention of Section 232, which was to help remaining U.S. smelters survive,” Jorge Vasquez, founder of Harbor Aluminum, told Reuters. He shared data with Reuters that Harbor Aluminum compiled showing Canada exported nearly 550,000 metric tons of primary aluminum to the U.S. in the first four months of this year, more than double the number from the same period last year when the 10 percent tariff was still in place.

However, a number of CEOs and other senior executives representing the aluminum industry value chain in the United States sent a letter to Lighthizer calling for continued quota-free Section 232 tariff exemptions for aluminum in North America. They say 97 percent of U.S. aluminum industry jobs are in mid- and downstream production and processing and rely on a mixture of domestic and imported primary aluminum.

Despite recent claims of a “surge” of primary aluminum imports from Canada into the U.S. made by the American Primary Aluminum Association (APAA), Washington, the Aluminum Association says previously released U.S. government data demonstrates that current import levels are largely consistent with historical trends and market fundamentals.

The letter states: “The integrated North American aluminum supply chain has been a crucial element of the U.S. aluminum industry’s ability to invest and grow over the past several decades. The U.S. aluminum industry needs a reliable source of input aluminum material to manufacture semifabricated products like aluminum foil, sheet, plate, wire, extrusions and other products. Even at full capacity, U.S. primary aluminum smelters can only meet about one-third of the demand for this vital material. The aluminum industry has no choice but to import a significant amount of primary aluminum to meet demand—the only question is from where?” 

In addition to Dobbins, the letter was signed by:

• Steve Fisher, president and CEO, Novelis Inc.;
• Jean-Marc Germain, CEO, Constellium;
• Henry Gordinier, president and CEO, Tri-Arrows Aluminum Inc.;
• Roy Harvey, president and CEO, Alcoa Corp.;
• Erin Fauber, CEO, American Metal Chemical Corp.;
• Tim Myers, CEO, Arconic Corp.;
• Charlie Straface, business unit president, Hydro Extrusion North America;
• Lee McCarter, CEO, JW Aluminum Inc.;
• Jack Hockema, CEO and chairman, Kaiser Aluminum;
• Terry Hogan, president and CEO, Real Alloy;
• Murray Rudisill, vice president, operations, Reynolds Consumer Products;
• Alf Barrios, CEO, Rio Tinto Aluminum;
• Garney Scott, president and CEO, Scepter Inc.;
• Gary Karnish, CEO, Silberline Manufacturing Co.;
• Wes Oberholzer, CEO, Smelter Service Corp.; and
• Kevin Person, CEO, Wagstaff Inc.

“Today’s letter shows an industry united in support of the continued free flow of metal within North America,” Dobbins says. “After all of the hard work that has gone into making the USMCA a reality, it would be a shame to move backward by reapplying tariffs or quotas on aluminum. We trust that the administration will heed the advice of representatives from the impacted industry who recognize that this action would only hurt U.S. aluminum companies and workers.”

Earlier this month, the Aluminum Association criticized the APAA for making what it says are “several” inaccurate claims recently arguing for the reimposition of Section 232 tariffs on aluminum imports from Canada into the U.S.”

Century Aluminum and Magnitude 7 Metals launched the APAA in mid-2018 “to advocate for the distinct interests of the primary aluminum industry in the United States.”

APAA CEO Mark Duffy voiced his support for resuming the tariffs to S&P Global Platts.

"Canadian product has surged into the US, causing the domestic price of aluminum to fall, capacity to stall and workers to be laid off," Duffy says in an S&P Global Platts article. "Canadian imports have surged by 24 percent over the period prior to the imposition of tariffs and over 80 percent above previous tariffed quarters."

"The Section 232 tariffs helped level the playing field for the domestic industry and American workers as formerly idled capacity restarted in places like Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri and across the United States, until the Canadian exemption was put into place," Duffy told S&P Global Platts.

He added, "It is no coincidence that US smelters were viable when the Canadian tariffs were in place, and now that the tariffs are no longer in place, the smelters are under threat.”

Electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaker Nucor Corp., Charlotte, North Carolina, has been recognized as a General Motors Supplier of the Year for the second consecutive year. The company was recognized during a virtual ceremony June 24. Less than 1 percent of GM's suppliers receive this award, and Nucor is the only EAF steelmaker to receive this recognition.

"On behalf of Nucor's 27,000 teammates, I want to thank GM for this award,” says Leon Topalian, president and CEO of Nucor. “We value the partnership we've built with GM, working together to meet their needs for automotive steel products. We look forward to continuing to grow as partners for years to come. I would also like to congratulate my teammates on this award. It is an honor to receive this recognition for the second year in a row."

The Supplier of the Year award winners were chosen by a global team of GM purchasing, engineering, quality, manufacturing and logistics executives. Winners were selected based on performance criteria in product purchasing, global purchasing and manufacturing services, customer care and aftersales, and logistics. This is the 28th year GM has honored suppliers.

"Our suppliers play a key role in delivering the products, services and experiences our customers deserve—and these award-winning suppliers went above and beyond our expectations," Shilpan Amin, GM vice president, global purchasing and supply chain, says.

Roseville, Michigan-based GLR Advanced Recycling has launched GLR America, a nonferrous metals brokerage division.

GLR America specializes in export and domestic full-truckload and container-load quantities, servicing the entire United States and Canada. GLR America also purchases mixed nonferrous loads and offers creative payment structures to help suppliers in the current pandemic. 

GLR Advanced Recycling President and CEO Michael Bassirpour says of the new division, “During these uncertain times in the world, we thought it was necessary to leverage the relationships and trust we have built throughout the years with our consumers and suppliers to vertically grow our business while helping our customer base. With our 93 years in business coupled with our partners at Padnos, we firmly believe that we have the best consumers in the world, which gives us the ability to quote suppliers the highest numbers possible while having the financial strength and credibility to establish trust.”

GLR Advanced Recycling has six locations throughout Michigan focused on nonferrous wholesale buying as well as buying auto bodies. The company says it bought more than 50,000 auto bodies in 2019 and is projecting to buy 70,000 in 2020. 

Jay Mentzel, vice president of metals for GLR Advanced Recycling, will head GLR America. He can be contacted at 586-359-9521 or at jay@glradvanced.com.

In 2018, Holland, Michigan-based Padnos announced it had acquired “a significant interest” in GLR Advanced Recycling, with a news release announcing the move describing it as a strategic partnership.

© Geomega Resources

Kiril Mugerman, president and CEO of Quebec-based Geomega Resources, says the company has developed “disruptive technology” to separate and recycle rare earth elements (REEs) used in permanent magnets.   

Rather than use hydrochloric or sulfuric acid in its process, Geomega uses a different reagent that Mugerman says has been adapted from another industry and is more environmentally friendly. The company can capture and recycle at least 95 percent of this reagent in its batch process while also recovering niobium, iron and four rare earth elements: neodymium, praseodymium, terbium, dysprosium. Its process recently received a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Infeed materials are reduced to a particle size of 1 to 2 millimeters via shredding before being placed into the digestion chamber for processing, Mugerman says.

Geomega’s process allows the company to “maximize the reagent so that there is minimal to no waste,” he says. What waste there is is treated locally without the need to store trailings.

Geomega’s process produces REE oxides with 99.5 percent purity, Mugerman says.

The company is in the process of constructing a demonstration facility in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Quebec, in the Greater Montreal area. Construction of the industrial complex was completed at the end of 2019 with final detail work underway. While the pandemic has delayed progress on the plant, Mugerman says he hopes it will be operational by year-end. Once operational, the plant will be able to process 1.5 metric tons in an eight-hour shift, he says.

Geomega says Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville provides a strategic location as it is only 30 minutes from Montreal and within six hours of major North American cities, such as Boston, New York and Toronto, with access to several major highways and expressways. It also benefits from access to major seaways with the Port of Montreal being 20 minutes away. The port is the largest container transhipment center in the Great Lakes system. The region also is served by Canadian National and Canadian Pacific railways.

© Geomega Resources

Geomega has secured project debt financing in the amount of $1.72 million from the Quebec government to help construct the recycling demonstration plant. Project financing is being provided by Investissement Quebec, which is acting as the agent of the Quebec government through the ESSOR program of the Ministry of Economy and Innovation of Quebec. The funds are being used to purchase equipment, engineering and construction of the demonstration plant.

When the financing was announced in February of this year, Mugerman said, “This significant construction financing of our rare earths magnets recycling facility is a critical first step in demonstrating that our ISR technology is scalable to a larger and potentially commercial scale. The cash flow generated from the commissioning of the plant and the validation of our technology will allow us to move towards processing other rare earth feed supplies, including mining concentrates from Montviel and other mining projects.”

The company is targeting end-of-life rare earth magnets, such as those in computer hard drives and other electronic devices, as feedstock for its demonstration plant. Mugerman says magnets are among the most common applications for rare earth elements, yielding comparatively high volumes of high-value REEs.

Geomega has secured agreements with suppliers of magnet scrap, he says. One such company is Jobmaster Magnet Canada Inc., Oakville, Ontario. The two companies have worked to establish a collection and recycling program with end users and traditional recyclers to return scrap magnets to either Geomega or Jobmaster Magnets to ultimately be recycled using Geomega’s process.

Geomega will be open to licensing its technology, Mugerman says, once the demo plant is up and running, but also is considering owning and operating its own processing facilities.