Aluminum Association calls for US export restrictions on scrap metal

The Aluminum Association has released a new white paper, Scrap the Exports, Save U.S. Supply: Treating Aluminum Scrap as a Strategic Asset, outlining the urgent need for federal action to keep more aluminium scrap at home to support America’s manufacturing base. Every year, the United States consumes between five to six million metric tons of aluminium scrap while exporting more than two million metric tons.

The United States relies on a combination of domestic and imported primary aluminium as well as scrap aluminium to meet demand for products ranging from cars to beverage cans to buildings to consumer electronics. Today, about two-thirds of the primary aluminium the United States uses each year is imported from Canada. Primary aluminium is often used in national security applications like body armour, tanks and fighter jets. Increasing the domestic scrap supply would free up more primary aluminium to support the American warfighter.

The Aluminum Association is calling for:

1. An immediate ban on used beverage container (UBC) exports outside of North America where the free flow of UBCs is essential to regional industry.
2. Updated US Harmonised Tariff Schedule (USHTS) codes and other tracking mechanisms to better monitor aluminium scrap flows and enforce restrictions.
3. Investment in new technology to improve scrap collection and sortation including passage of the bipartisan CIRCLE Act.
4. Potential expansion of export controls to other types of mill-ready scrap over time as tracking and infrastructure improves.

According to the Association, scrap exports have increased significantly in recent years and often end up in non-market economies such as China (either directly or through third countries) before it becomes new products that unfairly compete with American-made goods. Today, the United States runs a ~1.3 million metric ton trade deficit in aluminium scrap though that gap has narrowed recently due to trade and tariff policy.

Meanwhile, the aluminium industry is investing heavily in new plants and capacity in the United States – growing the need for scrap and other sources of metal. Over the past decade, the US industry has invested more than $11 billion in new and expanded operations, including two, new multi-billion-dollar aluminium rolling mills for the first time since 1980. These rolling mills will consume an enormous amount of scrap aluminium and keeping more of this material at home will support these investments.

“Scrap aluminium is a vital feedstock for American manufacturers, especially at a time when US aluminium firms are investing and need reliable and affordable access to metal like never before,” said Charles Johnson, president and CEO of the Aluminum Association. “Smart, targeted export controls that keep our highest-quality scrap, like used beverage containers, within our borders will help to build a stronger US aluminium industry and support American manufacturing in general. Otherwise, we’re giving up our competitive edge and letting non-market economies like China dominate yet another aluminium market.”

The white paper makes several arguments for why scrap export controls are needed in the United States:

• Aluminium scrap is a strategic asset: Aluminium scrap is vital to national security, infrastructure and everyday manufacturing, with the US industry already using scrap to support the ~85% of domestic production in secondary metal. Used beverage containers (UBCs) are a particularly valuable and usable scrap stream so should be prioritised under any scrap export restriction.
• China is rapidly expanding its aluminium recycling capacity: Backed by enormous state subsidies, China has more than doubled its aluminium scrap imports since 2020 and aims to produce more than 15 million metric tons of recycled aluminium by 2027. US scrap exports fuel this growth, risking a repeat of the collapse of US primary aluminium production and providing a direct boost to a strategic competitor.
• Recycling aluminium saves energy and reduces manufacturing costs: Recycling aluminium requires only about 5% of the energy needed to make new, or primary, metal. This means that if the United States was able to recycle all of the scrap it currently exports, America could save around 31 billion kWh, the same power used by ~3 million US homes during a time of record energy demand.
• Aluminium is essential for US defence systems: Aluminium is used in everything from jets to drones to tanks to satellites. And securing more domestic scrap frees up limited primary aluminium supply to directly support the American warfighter.
• Scrap can address the US metal supply gap: The United States currently fills a ~3.5 million metric ton annual gap in raw, unwrought aluminium metal supply through imports. Scrap export controls coupled with efforts to collect more aluminium for recycling and infrastructure investment could close 25–50% of this gap reasonably quickly and at a low cost.
• Restricting scrap exports is consistent with global trade reciprocity: Major economies including China, India, Russia and Saudi Arabia already restrict used beverage container (UBC) scrap exports. The European Union is similarly considering action to restrict aluminium scrap exports. The United States should follow suit to maintain reciprocity and competitiveness.

The Aluminum Association is calling for export restrictions on UBCs and similarly high-quality scrap that can be readily used by the industry today, not on lower-quality scrap streams like Zorba and Twitch. Such an approach will both minimise disruption to the current market and provide time for the industry to improve domestic sorting and processing technology to better utilise other types of scrap, the Association notes.

Johnson added: “By focusing only on the scrap we can use and value most, we make sure that American recyclers win and that lower-grade scrap still finds a market abroad until we’re ready to process more of it here.”

To learn more, visit: aluminum.org/ScrapTheExports.