With a 25% tariff on aluminum and steel imports taking effect this week, metals-dependent trade groups in the U.S. are calling on the Trump administration for exemptions.
Robert Budway, president of the Can Manufacturers Institute, said in a statement Wednesday that consumers will feel inflationary impacts from the Trump administration’s tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
“Recent history has demonstrated that trade protectionist measures have serious impacts for the U.S. economy and domestic food security," he said. “Aluminum and steel tariffs place price pressures on American-produced goods by artificially and dramatically increasing the cost of critical production materials, making U.S.-made food less competitive against foreign products.”
According to CMI, the domestic can industry produces approximately 135 billion food, beverage, aerosol and general line cans each year and employs more than 28,000 people. Since 2018 tariffs, U.S. tin mill steel producers shut down nine tin mill lines.
“Today, only three domestic production lines remain open in the United States, meaning American steel producers cannot meet U.S. demand even with the highest tinplate steel costs in the world,” Budway said. “This opens the door for cheaper canned foods to flood the U.S. market from China and other foreign competitors.”
According to the Aluminum Association, the U.S. aluminum industry has invested more than $10 billion since 2016, largely in “mid-and-downstream production and recycling.”
“This has been driven by growing demand, a competitive tax environment and strong, targeted trade enforcement the president supported in his first term,” CEO Charles Johnson said in a statement Wednesday. “For this growth to continue, the U.S. aluminum industry needs two things — long-term market certainty and a reliable supply of affordable metal, which today comes in large part from Canada.”
Johnson described U.S. industry’s longstanding trade relationship with Canada “a good deal for America” and called for a deal with Canada that secures robust supply.
Canada supplies about two-thirds of the primary aluminum used in the U.S., according to the Aluminum Association. In 2023, the U.S. imported 7.71 billion pounds of aluminum from Canada.
In a February letter to Trump, CMI, along with American canned food producers and packaging companies such as Silgan, Sonoco, Crown and Trivium, called for exemptions.
Which new tariffs are poised to impact steel and aluminum?
- Steel and aluminum: A 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum took effect March 12. The EU is considering counter-action on steel and aluminum products, among other categories.
- Canada and Mexico: 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico were paused until April 2 for USMCA-compliant goods, but are in effect for non-compliant ones. Mexico was the third-largest source of aluminum for the U.S. in 2023 and 2024 at approximately 1.22 billion pounds, according to data shared by the Aluminum Association. Canada enacted tariffs taking effect Thursday on U.S. steel products worth $8.8 billion and aluminum products worth $2 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported.
- China: The U.S. upped new tariffs on Chinese goods to 20% on March 3. In 2023 and 2024, the U.S. sourced approximately 646 million pounds of aluminum from China, according to data shared by the Aluminum Association.
