All-of-the-Above Approach Vital to America's Aluminum Future

Strong Trade Enforcement, Energy Investment and Scrap Export Controls Needed to Secure U.S. Aluminum Supply

As demand for aluminum continues to grow across transportation, packaging, energy, defense and advanced manufacturing, the Aluminum Association is calling for an "all-of-the-above" strategy to strengthen America's aluminum supply chains - one that supports both expanded recycling and secondary aluminum capacity and domestic primary aluminum production.

"Too often, discussions around primary and secondary aluminum frame these materials as an either-or choice," said Charles Johnson, president & CEO of the Aluminum Association. "The truth is that these materials are complementary - not fully interchangeable. And if the United States is going to win the future of manufacturing, we need to incentivize and grow the production of both materials."

Aluminum is one of only a handful of materials designated as a critical mineral across all federal agencies, recognizing its strategic importance to our national defense and economic security.

• Primary aluminum is made from bauxite-derived alumina and produced through an energy-intensive smelting process. Primary aluminum is the foundational metal required for many critical manufacturing applications - from defense to aerospace to the electric grid.
• Secondary aluminum is produced using predominantly recycled aluminum scrap with primary metal used when needed. Used in markets ranging from packaging to automotive to construction, secondary aluminum plays an increasingly important role in reducing energy use, lowering costs and supplying growing demand. Recycling aluminum is 95% less energy intensive than primary aluminum smelting.

Over the past several decades, primary aluminum production has declined dramatically in the United States, with 80% less domestic production today than during peak production in the 1980s. Projects to build new primary aluminum production and restart existing capacity in the United States, like those currently under discussion in Oklahoma and elsewhere, are critical to the future of the industry. Today, the United States can produce less than 20% of the primary aluminum it needs to service existing demand, making the industry import reliant for the foreseeable future.

The vast majority of primary aluminum imported into the United States today comes from Canada, which benefits from abundant, inexpensive, renewable hydropower. This metal supports the 98% of U.S. aluminum jobs today that are in mid-and-downstream production and processing.

As primary production has declined, secondary aluminum production and recycling have grown dramatically. U.S. aluminum scrap collection for recycling has more than doubled since the 1980s and today, fully 85% of U.S. aluminum production is secondary. Over the past decade, the U.S. aluminum industry has invested more than $11 billion in domestic plants and operations, primarily in mid-and-downstream production and recycling. Despite job declines in the primary sector, overall industry jobs have held steady as mid/downstream and recycling jobs hit record levels.

"America does not face a choice between primary aluminum and recycled aluminum," added Johnson. "We need policies that support both. The challenge before policymakers is not deciding which segment of the industry to support. It's ensuring the United States has enough aluminum of every kind to meet growing domestic demand while reducing reliance on unfairly traded imports."

Demand for aluminum is projected to grow around 80% globally by 2050 as manufacturers expand domestic production, utilities invest in transmission infrastructure and new data center and energy projects come online. Ensuring that the United States captures this demand growth requires smart policy and investment throughout the aluminum value chain.

Unlike steel, aluminum operates through highly integrated North American supply chains that rely on a combination of domestic production, recycling and regional trade flows. Policymakers should recognize these unique market dynamics and pursue aluminum-specific policies that reflect the structure of the industry. The Aluminum Association is working across the administration and with policymakers on Capitol Hill to advance a comprehensive Aluminum Agenda that ensures the United States can meet rising demand for this critical material.

Expand Secondary Production by Leveraging American Recycling
Aluminum can be recycled repeatedly without losing fundamental properties, making recycled metal a critical feedstock for domestic manufacturing. As demand for aluminum grows, scrap is increasingly viewed as a critical material. Today, recycling rates for used beverage cans (UBCs) are below 50%, meaning we throw away $1 billion+ worth of usable aluminum each year. And the United States exports enough scrap aluminum each year to make more than 9 million passenger vehicles. This metal often goes to strategic rivals like China.

To strengthen America's recycling advantage, policymakers should:

• Establish export controls on aluminum scrap like UBCs for markets where American re-melting capacity exceeds supply.
• Increase investment in domestic recycling capacity and sorting technology.
• Advance common-sense policies that attach a financial incentive to recycling and grow aluminum recovery rates.
• Use tax incentives to promote domestic production of secondary aluminum.

Support Domestic Primary Aluminum Production
A strong primary aluminum sector is vital to U.S. economic and national security.
Primary aluminum serves as a critical input for defense, aerospace, transportation and industrial applications and provides the foundational metal necessary to support a growing domestic manufacturing base. The Aluminum Association supports a strong domestic primary aluminum sector and participates with like-minded groups like the Forging the Future coalition in pursuit of these goals.

To support long-term growth in domestic primary production, policymakers should:

• Support energy policies that provide access to reliable, competitively priced electricity, recognizing aluminum's role as an energy-intensive strategic industry.
• Promote an "all-of-the-above" approach to new electricity generation using all existing energy sources as well as new technologies like SMR and geothermal production.
• Pursue permitting and infrastructure policies that encourage new investment and development.
• Use tax incentives to promote domestic production of the critical minerals and raw materials necessary for primary aluminum manufacturing.

Sustaining a Healthy Aluminum Market
Neither primary nor secondary aluminum production can thrive without fair and competitive market conditions and a level-playing field. The Aluminum Association supports trade enforcement measures that prevent unfairly traded aluminum from undermining domestic investments.

Policymakers should:

• Support effective and targeted aluminum tariffs that combat unfair trade from non-market actors like China and Russia.
• Negotiate an improved USMCA emphasizing strengthened North American external tariff harmonization, rules of origin and import monitoring.
• Pursue strong and expanded enforcement against tariff evasion and transshipment.
• Continue robust antidumping and countervailing duty programs.

"The future of American aluminum depends on growing supply across the board," Johnson said. "More primary production. More recycling. More domestic manufacturing. More investment. And stronger trade enforcement to ensure American workers and companies can compete on a level playing field. An all-of-the-above aluminum strategy is not simply good industrial policy-it's essential to America's manufacturing future."