PRESS RELEASE – for immediate release
Federation of Aluminium Consumers in Europe – FACE
Wednesday 30 July 2025, Brussels
PRESS RELEASE
TARIFFS: CONSERVA (FACE), TRUMP’S 50% TARIFFS ON EXPORTS OF EUROPEAN ALUMINIUM MAKE IT SO THE EU MUST SCRAP ITS OWN RAW ALUMINIUM IMPORT TARIFFS AND CHANGE COURSE
“THE US TARIFFS ARE A WTO-ILLEGAL TRADE AGGRESSION. EUROPE MUST RESPOND FIRMLY: MOVE FORWARD WITH THE LETTA AND DRAGHI REPORTS”
“It is unacceptable that, from Biden to Trump, the United States continue to treat the European Union as a national security threat, maintaining a 50% tariff on European aluminium under the so-called Section 232. This defies all multilateral logic: the EU cannot remain silent and passive.”
This is the warning from Mario Conserva, Secretary General of FACE – the Federation of Aluminium Consumers in Europe – commenting on recent confirmations from the White House that EU aluminium exports will continue to face a punitive 50% tariff.
“Despite the announcement of a new trade deal between the US and the EU, it has been made explicitly clear that the tariffs on steel and aluminium will remain unchanged. For Washington, keeping this extreme measure is a matter of internal ‘national security’, aimed at reviving domestic production. But this aggressive, unilateral policy, outside WTO rules, must be challenged – not tolerated,” Conserva continues.
EU: URGENT NEED TO REMOVE ITS OWN DUTIES ON RAW ALUMINIUM
“Rather than following Washington’s lead, the EU should do the exact opposite: immediately scrap its own 3–6% tariffs on imports of raw aluminium. In a market facing a chronic deficit for over twenty years, these duties are a strategic mistake – they have weakened the entire European value chain and, under the pressure of Section 232, have made it even more vulnerable.”
In the EU, primary aluminium is barely produced anymore, the FACE Secretary General explains, and companies are forced to import from third countries: “Maintaining customs duties in this context is counterproductive. Removing tariffs on raw aluminium is urgent to strengthen the industry’s competitiveness, reduce costs, and boost the EU’s strategic resilience. We cannot speak of industrial autonomy while obstructing access to raw materials.”
TRUMP ISN’T CHANGING – A DISTINCT EUROPEAN STRATEGY IS NEEDED
FACE warns against false hopes: “No agreement with Trump will be good or stable. With him and his administration, the US line is clear: high tariffs, zero concessions, a power-based logic. The EU must acknowledge that the US has chosen an aggressive and isolationist path when it comes to metals.”
“Diplomacy alone is not enough,” concludes Conserva. “The Letta and Draghi reports must be urgently implemented: boost internal demand, fully utilise the single market, and create true European industrial champions. At the same time, the EU must strengthen global alliances with strategic partners on every continent, to build a new multilateral system of trade and investment that can withstand the twin pressure of the US and China.”
The press release is available here.
