Aluminum Association Calls on Trump Administration to Address Aluminum Overcapacity in Talks with China from buzai232's blog

In a letter to Treasury Department Under Secretary David Malpass, the alu alu foil manufacturers in korea called on the Trump administration to address China’s structural aluminum overcapacity when meeting with Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen this week. Malpass will lead the U.S. delegation in trade talks with China in Washington on August 22 and 23.

Illegal government subsidies in China for both primary aluminum and semi-fabricated aluminum products have resulted in significant overcapacity in the market, hurting U.S. workers and threatening the industry’s continued health. Chinese smelters can now make nearly 11 million more metric tons of primary aluminum than China actually consumes. This excess capacity alone is equal to nearly all U.S. aluminum demand. Subsidized overcapacity further downstream has driven a 230 percent spike in Chinese imports of semi-fabricated aluminum into the U.S. since 2012.

In the letter, Aluminum Association president & CEO Heidi Brock said, “Now that the United States has recognized the issue of overcapacity and is pursuing tangible commitments from China to address longstanding issues, we see a unique window of opportunity for the U.S. government to comprehensively address the persistent problem of Chinese aluminum overcapacity. With so many policymakers acknowledging the problem since the announcement of the 232 tariffs, now is the time to act on this issue impacting our growth in the United States and across global markets.”