US removes tariff on imports of P1020 aluminum from Canada

The Trump administration has removed Section 232 on tariffs unwrought aluminum imports from Canada that it had reinstated in August.

The move comes after consultations with the Canadian government from which the United States has determined that trade in nonalloyed, unwrought aluminum is likely to normalize in the last four months of 2020, with imports declining sharply from the surges experienced earlier in the year, according to a news release from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). Average monthly imports are expected to decline 50 percent from the monthly average from January through July. Therefore, the USTR says it will modify the terms of the 10 percent tariff imposed in August.

The U.S. says it expects that shipments of nonalloyed, unwrought aluminum, or P1020, from Canada for the remainder of the year will be no greater than 83,000 tons in September, 70,000 tons in October, 83,000 tons in November and 70,000 tons in December.

The decision to lift the tariff is retroactive to Sept. 1, the USTR says.

“Six weeks after the end of any month during this period, the United States will determine whether actual shipments met expectations,” the news release notes. “If actual shipments exceeded 105 percent of the expected volume for any month during the four-month period, then the United States will impose the 10 percent tariff retroactively on all shipments made in that month.

“If shipments in any month exceed the expected volume, the United States expects that shipments in the next month will decline by a corresponding amount,” the USTR adds.

In response to the news, President and CEO Tom Dobbins of the Aluminum Association, Arlington, Virginia, issued a statement that reads, “Removing these disruptive and unnecessary tariffs on Canadian aluminum was the right decision for the U.S. aluminum industry and its 162,000 workers. The Aluminum Association and its members support tariff and quota-free trade within North America consistent with the recently implemented U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Especially as the industry continues to recover from the worst of the COVID-driven demand disruptions, it is vital that we keep North American aluminum supply chains open and unencumbered.”