The Aluminium Association and European Aluminum sent a joint letter to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and EU Executive Vice-President and Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis ahead of continued discussions on the Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminium (Global Arrangement) in Belgium July 20-21.

“The U.S. aluminium industry has announced more domestic investment over the past two years than the prior several decades combined,” said Charles Johnson, president & CEO of the Aluminium Association. “That’s why it is so important that the U.S. government reaches a politically sustainable arrangement with the EU to support continued growth of low carbon aluminium production here at home. We appreciate the work of Ambassador Tai and the full USTR team on this issue and look forward to continued engagement.”

The letter underscores the need for the Global Arrangement to address both decarbonization and market behavior to best support the aluminum industry on both sides of the Atlantic.  

The letter states:  “As trade relations deteriorate worldwide, any restrictions among long-standing and responsible partners will only harm aluminium producers worldwide. A well-designed agreement should recognize and incentivize the low carbon, market-driven aluminium industries in Global Arrangement party countries ensuring a level-playing field within the Global Arrangement as regards climate-related costs. Further, the agreement should set reasonable targets and benchmarks for non-party countries so that they can join the agreement, or face measures for high carbon, non-competitive imports. This will ensure that non-party countries do not jeopardize aluminium production in Global Arrangement member countries.”

The association leaders also stressed the importance of “timely and effective delivery” of the Global Arrangement by October 2023.