The aluminium associations of the United States, Europe, Canada and Japan welcome the new report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), World Bank Group (WBG) and World Trade Organisation (WTO), Subsidies, Trade, and International Cooperation.

This joint report highlights, “With the frequency and complexity of distortive subsidies increasing, even as the need grows for active policies to address climate, health, food, and other emergencies, subsidies and the subsidies debate have brought significant discord to the trading system. The issue demands global attention and cooperation.”

In welcoming the report, Charles Johnson, President & CEO of the Aluminum Association; Paul Voss, Director General of European Aluminium; Jean Simard, President & CEO of the Aluminium Association of Canada; and Yasushi Noto, Executive Director of the Japan Aluminium Association said: “This latest analysis by the world’s preeminent international organisations draws attention, yet again, to the prevalence of trade distorting and environmentally damaging subsidies provided both by and to state enterprises across the entire aluminium value chain.

“High levels of support are displacing production from unsubsidised firms unable to compete with the deep pockets of the state and driving out resilient supply chains in strategic sectors across the US, Europe, Canada, and Japan. Nearly 2 million direct and indirect jobs are at risk.

“These same subsidies increase output in high GHG emitting production systems, resulting in a much higher carbon footprint globally. By reducing growth opportunities in unsubsidised production systems, subsidies also discourage private investment and innovation in initiatives to decarbonise the sector.”

“Our member companies are committed to producing aluminium responsibly but doing so is being hindered by state capitalism on the scale we are witnessing across the aluminium value chain today. Action is urgently needed to build a global level playing field, open to fair competition and free of subsidies that favor just a few firms at the expense of many. We actively support updated WTO rules and plurilateral initiatives to discipline harmful industrial subsidies and are ready to work together with international organisations and with governments to achieve this.”