Trade Statement of The Aluminum Association
The members of The Aluminum Association are domestic producers of primary and secondary ingot, aluminum mill products and castings. Mill products include sheet and plate, foil, extrusions, forgings and impacts, electrical conductor, and wire, rod and bar. The membership also includes producers of master alloys and additives and aluminum pigments and powders. The Association is a primary source for statistics, technical standards and information on aluminum and the aluminum industry in the United States. The Aluminum industry operates about 470 plants in 40 U.S. states, employs nearly 100,000 people with about $3.5 billion in total payroll. While Association member companies conduct business worldwide, the U.S. aluminum industry ranks first in the world in annual primary aluminum production capacity, accounting for about 16 percent of world supply or over 4 million metric tons of metal.
Overview
The members of the Aluminum Association are fully committed to a fair and open world market for aluminum. The Aluminum Association strongly supports the initiation of global trade negotiations in the World Trade Organization (WTO). The Association supports a comprehensive approach to the phased-in reduction and elimination of tariffs over a multi-year period, not to exceed ten years. In addition, we believe that all aluminum producing, importing and exporting countries should participate in the Round, and that no country be required to reduce or eliminate its tariffs on a unilateral basis.
Background
The aluminum industry is global. The largest aluminum producers are multinational companies with production, fabricating and distribution facilities around the world. During 2000, world aluminum primary production totaled an estimated 24 million metric tons.
The leading producing countries include the United States, Russia, Canada, the European Union, China, Australia, Brazil, Norway, South Africa, Venezuela, the Gulf States (Bahrain and United Arab Emirates), India and New Zealand; together they represent more than 90 percent of the world primary aluminum production. The largest aluminum markets are North America, Europe and East Asia.
The U.S. is both a major importer and exporter of aluminum. Approximately 33.5 percent of the U.S. supply of aluminum was imported in 2000 from foreign producers in the form of primary ingot and scrap. In 2000, U.S. exports mounted to 11.4 percent of U.S. producer shipments in the form of ingot, scrap and mill products.
The free flow of aluminum products on a global scale is vital to the future success of the U.S. aluminum industry and we believe that the upcoming WTO Round will achieve this goal.
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