Trade Group Says Aluminum Tariffs Have Not Cost Jobs
Ten percent tariffs on imported aluminum has driven about 1,000 new jobs, and has not cost jobs among aluminum consumers, according to an Economic Policy Institute report released Dec. 11. One of the aluminum companies that sought Section 232 protection, Century Aluminum, funded the report, and participated in its rollout, through the American Primary Aluminum Association trade group. The report also noted that 22 projects, some expansions, some new, have been announced in rolled and extruded aluminum facilities. These facilities are downstream aluminum, and are not protected by Section 232, though some are protected by antidumping duties. These projects are expected employ more than 2,000 workers when they are open.
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According to the EPI analysis, U.S. output of raw alumina and refined & processed aluminum increased 9.8 percent between February 2018, before tariffs were levied, and October 2018. Output of rolled and extruded aluminum products increased 9.1 percent from February to September 2018, the analysis said. There "remains no evidence that the imposition of tariffs on aluminum (or steel) have had the kinds of negative employment impacts -- in downstream manufacturing or other parts of the economy -- that were predicted by critics of aluminum tariffs," EPI wrote.
An earlier report from the Congressional Research Services also did not document any job losses from the tariffs. It said the price effect of the tariff wasn't clear. "Before the tariff, the average spot price of primary aluminum ingot produced in the United States was $2,167 per metric ton in 2017, or 10% higher than the London price (the global price of aluminum)," CRS wrote. From January to July 2018, the average price of primary aluminum in the U.S. rose 3 percent, its analysis said.