Aluminum Production NAICS 3313

Mar 8, 2026 - Aluminum Tariffs Remain In Place

• The Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling striking down President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs does not affect the Section 232 tariffs on aluminum, which remain in place, The Aluminum Association reports. Section 232 tariffs underpin domestic price floors and help US smelters compete with lower‑cost imports, allowing producers to avoid the downside risk of cheaper Canadian, Mexican, and Chinese metal re‑entering the market, providing market stability. Still, short‑term uncertainty from the president’s new temporary 10% (possibly 15%) Section 122 tariff applies broadly but cannot stack on top of Section 232 aluminum duties and expires after 150 days without congressional approval. This limits its usefulness for long‑term investment decisions and creates policy volatility for producers and downstream buyers. In short, because the high court’s ruling invalidates only International Emergency Economic Powers Act‑based tariffs, aluminum producers see limited direct benefit: no new protection, but no erosion of current safeguards.
• Energy-hungry data centers represent a threat to aluminum smelters, the CFO of Alcoa warned in December, as reported in Aluminum International Today. The aluminum giant’s warning highlights a growing structural challenge for aluminum producers: intensifying competition with data centers for affordable electricity. Because smelting is one of the most energy‑intensive industrial processes, producers rely on long‑term access to low‑cost power, typically $30–$40 per megawatt hour. But data centers are willing to pay more than $100 per MWh, pushing power markets toward higher prices and making it harder for smelters to secure viable contracts. Alcoa notes this dynamic has already contributed to the closure of its West Coast smelters and poses a major barrier to building new US capacity. Overall, the rise of data centers threatens long‑term domestic smelting competitiveness and could limit future domestic aluminum production growth.

• Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed an innovative aluminum alloy, called RidgeAlloy, that transforms low-value aluminum scrap into a high-value domestic supply chain for manufacturing new structural auto parts, QualityDigest reports. Amid tight global supplies of the metal, a wave of aluminum auto body scrap is set to enter salvage systems over the next decade. But it’s too impure to be safely reused in new, critical automotive parts, limiting its value. RidgeAlloy opens a pathway to high-value recycled material use, potentially reducing reliance on imported primary aluminum and lowering production energy needs by up to 95%. Aluminum producers that adopt or support this type of recycled alloy technology can boost domestic supply-chain resilience and capture rising demand for lightweight vehicles and EVs, boosting plant utilization and margins, while producers that rely solely on primary aluminum may face pressure as recycled alternatives become viable.
• Producer prices for alumina and aluminum producers and processors soared to a record high in November, rising 25.8% compared to a year ago after rising a comparatively modest 7.4% in the previous November-versus-November annual comparison, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Rising energy costs, supply constraints, tariffs, and strong global demand are all pushing production costs higher for aluminum producers. Meanwhile, employment by alumina, aluminum, and other nonferrous metal producers was flat year over year in November, while the average industry wage for workers employed by primary metals manufacturers dipped 0.9% YoY in December to $29.41 per hour, down $0.61 from its peak in July, BLS data show.