The Trump administration is considering re-imposing tariffs on aluminum imports from Canada and an announcement could come by the end of the week, according to people familiar with the matter.
If Canada refuses to impose export restrictions on aluminum, the U.S. will announce Friday the re-imposition of 10 percent tariffs on aluminum from the country and implement the tariffs by July 1, according to sources, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public.
The announcement would come just days before the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal enters into force at the start of July. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has expressed concern about recent struggles by American aluminum producers, which have seen sales drop and all-in prices sink as demand evaporated amid the global pandemic.
Lighthizer told the Senate Finance Committee in a hearing last week that recent surges in metal imports from North American neighbors are “of genuine concern to us now,” and that his office was looking at the issue.
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“I would say there have been surges on steel and aluminum, substantially from Canada, some from Mexico, and it is something that we’re looking at and talking to both Mexico and Canada about,” Lighthizer told the panel’s top Republican, Sen. Chuck Grassley from Iowa.
A spokesman for the USTR didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment. A spokeswoman for Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said in an emailed statement that Canadian exports don’t harm the U.S. market.
