Century Aluminum has applauded President Donald Trump’s executive order to close a tariff loophole.
The executive order on April 2 keeps the 50% tariff on primary aluminium but closes a valuation loophole.
Century said importers had been abusing the valuation loophole to avoid the tariffs of aluminium, which it said had levelled the playing field for American manufacturers.
Century said in some instances, importers had declared only the value of aluminium while excluding value added through processing, thereby lowering the tariff owed and disadvantaging domestic manufacturers.
The order clarifies that importers must declare the full value of covered products, promoting consistent enforcement and fair competition across the aluminium supply chain.
The latest order clarifies that importers must declare the full value of covered products, in order to promote consistent enforcement and fair competition across the aluminium supply chain.
Century CEO Jesse Gary said: "Century Aluminum strongly supports President Trump’s executive order, which defends American manufacturing and holds foreign companies accountable for unfair practices by closing loopholes that importers had previously tried to use to cheat the system.
“With the 50% Section 232 tariffs on primary aluminum still fully in force with no exemptions or exceptions, today’s executive order reinforces that foreign actors will no longer be allowed to game the system at the expense of Americans."
He added that since the Section 232 was reinforced last year, Century had expanded US aluminium production by 10% and committed billions to new capacity to double production and create thousands of American jobs.