US aluminium industry urges USMCA tariff harmonization

Key takeaways:

• The Aluminum Association wants USMCA to harmonize tariffs across the US, Canada and Mexico. It also wants strong import monitoring to stop transshipment and protect the US aluminium industry.
• The USMCA review is moving from routine to high-stakes. Public comments and hearings are underway. Tighter rules of origin are likely on the table.
• Policy shifts are reshaping the landscape. The US expanded tariffs on aluminium and derivatives. Mexico has proposed high tariffs on some imports. USMCA already requires 70% regional aluminium content in auto parts. Mexico still lacks an aluminium import monitoring system.

Aluminum Association sets expectations for future trade deals

“We have been very clear with the US government that if any preferential treatment is given to our closest trading partners in a future free trade deal, it must include provisions that are as successful at protecting the US aluminium industry as the actions that the US government has taken,” Aluminum Association president and chief executive officer Charles Johnson said at a September 18 press conference.

The Aluminum Association is a trade association representing members throughout the aluminium industry.

Johnson said previous US government action has led to $10 billion in investment in the aluminium industry. He said the US aluminium industry was active in the first UMSCA deal and plans to be involved again in negotiations.

USMCA, which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement in 2020, was applauded by the US aluminium industry.

USMCA review timeline and stakes for the US aluminium industry

The Office of the US Trade Representative started a public consultation process ahead of the USMCA joint review on September 16. Market participants can submit public comments by November 3, which will then be followed by a public hearing on November 17.

According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the review was originally expected to be a routine assessment aimed at improving implementation, but is now likely to become a high-stakes negotiation.

US aluminium industry priorities: Tariff harmonization and import monitoring

The US aluminium industry aspirations for USMCA negotiations include tariff harmonization and the implementation of import monitoring, according to Aluminum Association vice president of external affairs Matt Meenan.

The Aluminum Association supports a harmonized North American trade deal “that aligns aluminium tariffs” among the US, Canada and Mexico “while strengthening monitoring and enforcement mechanisms to stop transshipped metal.”

“If the US has a certain tariff against unfairly traded metal from China or Russia, then we think Canada and Mexico should have a similar set of tariffs,” Meenan told Fastmarkets on October 8.

“Let’s make sure that our trading partners are doing the same thing so that we can create a fortress against unfairly traded metal,” Meenan said.

Without tariff harmonization, Meenan said countries like China can undermine the US tariff wall by exporting to Canada or Mexico.

US aluminium industry: Shifting tariffs across North America

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo proposed tariffs as high as 50% on a list of over 1,300 goods from Asian countries, including China, on September 10. The proposal is awaiting approval from Mexico’s bicameral congress.

“This is a shift we’ve been advocating for many years,” Johnson said. “I think it’s fair to say that the current pressure from the Trump administration is having an impact.”

Additionally, the second Trump Administration significantly expanded the number of steel and aluminium derivatives covered by tariffs, according to the Library of Congress.

In August 2025, the US Department of Commerce added more than 400 aluminium and steel product codes to the previously expanded tariff list.

US aluminium industry: Rules of origin and import monitoring gaps

Currently, USMCA requires at least 70% of the aluminium content of automotive parts to originate in the US, Canada and Mexico to be considered a North American product under the agreement’s rules of origin.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) stated that rules of origin will remain a contentious topic in negotiations, as the US is expected to revisit demands for higher regional content thresholds in key sectors, such as automotives and aluminium.

“If you go back to the text of the original USMCA agreements back in 2020, all three parties agreed to set up rigorous import monitoring programs for the [aluminium] industry,” Meenan said. “The steel industry has had stuff like this for a long time.”

Canada and the US have created aluminium import monitor systems in 2019 and 2021, respectively. However, Mexico has not yet created an import monitoring system for the light metal.

Meenan said the association has “been really pushing Mexico to follow suit and live up to the originally agreed import monitoring program.”

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