Government Policy

Trade
International trade is vitally important to the health of the aluminum industry. The members of the Aluminum Association are fully committed to a fair and open world market for aluminum. The Association strongly supports the initiation of global trade negotiations in the World Trade Organization (WTO). It supports a comprehensive approach to the phased-in reduction and elimination of tariffs over a multi-year period, not to exceed 10 years. In addition, we believe that all aluminum producing, importing, and exporting countries should participate in the Round, and that no country be required to reduce or eliminate its tariffs on a unilateral basis.

Energy
At an annual sum of more than $2 billion, the aluminum industry is a major industrial user of electricity. Since the electrolytic process is the only commercially proven method of producing aluminum, the industry has on its own pursued opportunities to reduce its use of electricity. In the last 50 years, the average amount of electricity needed to make a pound of aluminum has been slashed from 12 kilowatt hours to about 7 kilowatt hours.

Environment and Climate Change
From an environmental perspective, the aluminum industry also is a leader in the preservation of natural resources. Total U.S. aluminum industry supply in 2009 was 7.99 million metric tons, 28.3 percent of which was recycled aluminum. Of the 96.6 billion aluminum cans shipped in the U.S. in 2009, 57.4 percent (55.5 billion) were recycled. Almost 90 percent of automotive aluminum is reclaimed and recycled. Recycling of aluminum saves energy and avoids some 95 percent of the emissions associated with making new aluminum from ore

Further, since the industry has taken the initiative to voluntarily reduce its process greenhouse gas emissions, it strongly supports policies and programs that give credit for early action taken in reducing greenhouse gases since 1990. The Industry also supports efficient and economically sound emissions trading programs and registries that recognize early emissions reductions.

The industry supports and participates in public/private partnerships to spur pre-competitive research to reduce greenhouse gas process emissions and to promote energy-saving aluminum product applications. The industry supports a responsible approach to growth in demand for its products and the consequent growth in activity and related emissions, noting that solutions to the climate change issue involve both reducing emissions at source and also over the full life cycle of the material or products.