PRESS RELEASE – for immediate release
Federation of Aluminium Consumers in Europe – FACE
Saturday 31 May 2025, Brussels
PRESS RELEASE
TRUMP DOUBLES TARIFFS ON STEEL AND ALUMINIUM TO 50%, FACE SECRETARY GENERAL MARIO CONSERVA:
“THE U.S. LACKS DOMESTIC CAPACITY TO MEET THE NEEDS OF ITS OWN INDUSTRIES”
Trump made the announcement during a rally: the 25% tariffs already in place on steel and aluminium will double to 50% starting from 4 June. This news throws further confusion into a sector already burdened by numerous taxes. “One of our primary concerns is the absurd persistence of the import duty on primary aluminium, which torments thousands of companies in Italy and across the European Union,” said Mario Conserva, Secretary General of the Federation of Aluminium Consumers in Europe (FACE), which has been defending the interests of small and medium-sized enterprises in the sector for 25 years.
“We face a shortage of nearly 90% of the aluminium we need, and in order to import it, we have to pay a tax between 3% and 6%, which is a pure loss of international competitiveness for our production system—a truly concerning situation that we have been denouncing for years,” explained Conserva. And now, with Trump’s new measures, the situation is becoming even more confused: “a carousel of decisions and reversals by the American president, which ultimately mean very little and clash with the only objective fact—today, the United States does not even remotely have the domestic coverage needed to meet the primary aluminium demand of its downstream industries, from food packaging to transport, construction, and many other sectors.” To meet those needs, FACE’s leader concluded, “would require years, significant costs, and considerable environmental and energy burdens—an extraordinary effort that is not even being discussed.”
The U.S. administration has also had to face the reality of its own industrial sector. “With Trump’s extraordinary policy volatility, the United States risks a recession—and with it, the danger of spreading its effects globally,” Conserva warned.
As for the automotive, transport, and construction sectors, the Secretary General added: “The aluminium market in Italy and Europe is already suffering in terms of transport-related applications, but the main reason is the automotive crisis. I see this as a cyclical and well-known event (for example, aluminium in construction is performing very well in Italy this year), and it will in no way hinder the ongoing global growth of aluminium and its alloys. In 2024, around 100 million tonnes of aluminium—both primary and secondary—were used worldwide. By 2050, that figure is expected to reach 150 million tonnes.”
The press release is available here.
