Recycling

• The US produces only 3% of new global aluminum, down from 50%. Trump won’t make aluminum production great again.
• Tariffs punish all aluminum users, including recyclers. And one of the biggest global aluminum recyclers is in the US.

Trump’s Tariffs on Aluminum Kill U.S. Factory Jobs

Please consider the Wall Street Journal Op-Ed Trump’s Tariffs on Aluminum Kill U.S. Factory Jobs by Stephen Moore.

The Trump trade strategy aims to bolster U.S. manufacturing—in part through steel and aluminum tariffs. But the latter especially makes no economic sense as a tool to save, let alone increase, factory jobs. If left to stand, President Trump’s June order to raise the tax on imported aluminum to 50% will almost certainly cost far more manufacturing jobs than it will save.

The U.S. doesn’t produce much new aluminum anymore. Our share of world production has fallen over the past 50 years from almost half to less than 3% today. But America is a vital source of recycled aluminum—50% of the world supply comes from one U.S. company, Novelis. It’s a pervasively reusable material: Novelis’s website says that more than 70% of aluminum ever produced is still in use today.

The tariffs have endangered the many manufacturing jobs provided by American companies that use aluminum inputs, including recyclers. Novelis alone is one of the world’s largest producers of aluminum for cans of beer and soft drinks, parts for airplanes, housing construction components and car production. The company is building a massive plant in Bay Minette, Ala. At $4.1 billion, it’s one of the largest manufacturing investments in Alabama’s history and will hire thousands of workers across construction and up to 1,000 once the plant opens.

But now Novelis is in danger of ceasing construction if there is no relief from the more than $40 million in monthly tariff-related costs it suffers.

The damage to existing U.S. manufacturing reaches up the supply chain. The aluminum tariff is hurting, among others, automakers, John Deere, Molson Coors, and Caterpillar.

The U.S. manufacturers hit by Mr. Trump’s tariffs are frustrated. They provide good jobs to Americans yet are getting hammered. Many also compete directly with China—which will be the big winner of the aluminum tariffs. Mr. Trump promised that “there are no tariffs if you manufacture or build your product in the United States.” That has proved utterly untrue.

Punishing U.S. manufacturers and their hardworking employees is hardly putting America first.

Mr. Moore is a visiting senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation and a co-founder of Unleash Prosperity. He was a senior economic adviser to the Trump campaign in 2024.

Why Tariffs Won’t Fix Manufacturing

• No one knows what the hell trump will do, what exceptions he will make, or when.
• The lead times for steel, aluminum, and copper mill expansion are too large.
• Electricity costs are rising
• Intermediate production demand is getting killed.

It will take years, if ever, for Trump to make steel, aluminum, and copper production in the US great again.

The same applies to auto parts imports.

Meanwhile the costs have gone up with Ford, GM, John Deere, and even Alcoa complaining.

I suppose Trump could make iPhone production great again by having hundreds of thousands of people put in tiny screws. But what would an iPhone cost?

Not Just Aluminum

Aluminum is an excellent example, but it’s hardly the only one.

Small manufacturers will be clobbered by these tariffs. And production will not return to the US for years if ever.

Intermediate Production Use

For every direct job in steel, aluminum, or copper production, there are hundreds of users of those metals.

A recent analysis from 2025 found that 51% of goods imported into the United States are intermediate goods, according to Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF).

Related Posts

February 11, 2025: Trump’s Steel Tariffs Now Will Work as Good as the First Time

Q: How’s that? A: Very poorly.

March 13, 2025: The Amazing “Success” of Trump’s 2018 Aluminum Tariffs in One Picture

I hope you can take a bit of headline sarcasm because the true story follows.

April 14, 2025: Say goodbye to Cheap Socks and Other Apparel, We Call This Winning

You pay more and get less, but Trump calls it winning.

June 4, 2025: Irony of the Year: Automakers Consider Moving Some Parts Production to China

China has a magnet stranglehold that causing some seemingly strange discussions.

August 3, 2025: Trump Puts 93.5 Percent Tariff on Graphite Needed for EV Batteries

Here’s another shoot yourself in the foot tariff move by Trump.

If you are looking for a reason inflation won’t go away anytime soon. There’s the case.

Unless jobs collapse and demand with it, the Fed is going to have a stagflationary mess on its hands.

More By This Author: