The Philadelphia Inquirer: Aluminum wars: U.S. factory owners seek ‘political’ route to higher import taxes under Trump
Aluminum plant owners and others hope the Trump administration will reverse a recent refusal to boost tariffs by the International Trade Commission
By Joseph N. DiStefano
November 30, 2024
Thwarted by the U.S. International Trade Commission in its push to boost tariffs on 14 countries — even after the Commerce Department found they illegally “dumped” cheap aluminum parts — some U.S. manufacturers, including owners of the Western Extrusion works in Pennsauken, are counting on the Trump administration to boost import taxes as promised.
Their Aluminum Extruders Coalition is among many U.S. factory owner groups awaiting action on Trump’s promises to aggressively expand these import taxes to protect American industry.
Trump in his campaign proposed a new tax of at least 10% on all imports; a new 60% tax on all goods from China (along with existing China product tariffs, some of which are much higher); and more severe tariffs on targeted industries worldwide.
On Tuesday, he pledged extra across-the-board 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports tied to immigration and drug enforcement, plus 10% on China. Tariffs are designed to help U.S. producers by making cheap competing products more expensive; they are controversial because they also can boost prices and feed inflation.
Bennett McEvoy, owner of Texas-based Western Extrusion, said he and his competitors — who are also his allies in the trade fight — “were incredibly disappointed and surprised” by the trade commission’s 2-1 vote last month to decline steep tariff increases on aluminum parts from countries including China and nations in eastern and western Asia, southern Europe, and Latin America.
Commerce had recommended those new tariffs, which in some cases would cost more than the imports’ value. But the commission’s two-member majority in a brief statement said it didn’t agree with Commerce or the industry group’s contention that U.S. aluminum extruders had been damaged by the cheap imports. The commission plans to file a report detailing its refusal by Dec. 10.
“We are filing an appeal,” McEvoy said. “We are hopeful based on what President-elect Trump has said. We are going to approach people in the administration. Extruders are a small industry. A lot of the companies are family-owned. We haven’t had a seat at any table before. This is our first really political effort.”
The commission has six seats but only four current members, all of whom are serving past their expired terms because they were not replaced during the Biden administration, said Robert DeFrancesco, a lawyer for the coalition. One commissioner, who the manufacturers thought favored their cause, recused before the vote for undisclosed reasons, adding to the manufacturers’ frustration. In a tie vote, the tariffs would have passed.
The coalition’s 14 members, including Western, employ a total of 40,000 U.S. workers, not counting thousands more at suppliers, trucking companies, and other dependent industries. The coalition also includes the United Steelworkers union, which represents some of the workers who operate the high-temperature machines that form aluminum into pieces for vehicles, temporary structures, and other uses. The Pennsauken plant at the former Aluminum Shapes facility, which once employed over 2,000, is nonunion.
