Conserva (FACE): “Trump’s suicide on aluminium. Brussels eliminates its tariffs”
“Trump’s behavior is incomprehensible. I am speaking with regard to aluminium. The U.S. aluminium supply chain system already had a lot of difficulties with a 25 percent duty, to raise it to 50 percent is to put survival at risk. It is a suicide.” Words from Mario Conserva, Secretary General of the European Federation of Aluminum Consumers (FACE), an association that has been defending the interests of small and medium-sized companies in the sector for 25 years. Conserva calls on the European Union to take advantage of the situation.
How?
“In Europe, and especially in Italy, we do not produce primary aluminium. We have to import the raw metal from China, India and other countries. Since the U.S. alone has decided to shoot itself in the foot, the EU might not follow Trump and move against the trend to favor a free market for raw materials, which are the basis of all industry and competitiveness.”
What should Brussels do?
“Eliminate tariffs on raw aluminium imports, which have been creating an extra cost in our manufacturing sector for too many years.”
Why had the EU put tariffs on imports if raw material production is low in the Old Continent?
“Tariffs, which in Europe range from 3 to 6 percent, were used to defend the system when the cost of electricity was contained. In Europe every major state had its own primary production; today there is something minimal left only in Germany. The rising cost of energy has led to production no longer being cost-effective, so massive importation has begun from Greater China, India and some other countries in the East, such as Russia, from where nothing now comes. So taking them out would be a benefit.”
From an industrial point of view, what sense does Trump’s decision and the further crackdown from 29 to 50 percent make?
“None. It is nonsense. I give Trump the benefit of the doubt. His ultimate goal is to rebuild an aluminum supply chain in the United States, but that takes years: at least a decade, not a few months, and tariffs like that are out of scale anyway. So you just kill businesses. And with Trump’s extraordinary decision-making volatility, the United States risks a recession, with the threat of exporting the negative consequences of bad choices a bit everywhere.”
The full interview from La Repubblica is available here.
