The Aluminum Association today 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 aluminum scrap at home to support America’s manufacturing base. Every year, the United States consumes between 5 – 6 million metric tons of aluminum scrap while exporting more than 2 million metric tons.

The United States relies on a combination of domestic and imported primary aluminum as well as scrap aluminum to meet demand for products ranging from cars to beverage cans to buildings to consumer electronics. Today about two-thirds of the primary aluminum the United States uses each year is imported from Canada. Importantly, primary aluminum is often used in national security applications like body armor, tanks and fighter jets. Increasing the domestic scrap supply would free up more primary aluminum 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 U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule (USHTS) codes and other tracking mechanisms to better monitor aluminum 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.

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 aluminum scrap though that gap has narrowed recently due to trade and tariff policy.

Meanwhile, the aluminum 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 U.S. industry has invested more than $11 billion in new and expanded operations, including two, new multi-billion-dollar aluminum rolling mills for the first time since 1980. These rolling mills will consume an enormous amount of scrap aluminum and keeping more of this material at home will support these investments.

“Scrap aluminum is a vital feedstock for American manufacturers, especially at a time when U.S. aluminum 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 U.S. aluminum industry and support American manufacturing in general. Otherwise, we’re giving up our competitive edge and let non-market economies like China dominate yet another aluminum market.”

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

• Aluminum scrap is a strategic asset: Aluminum scrap is vital to national security, infrastructure and everyday manufacturing, with the U.S. 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 prioritized under any scrap export restriction.
• China is rapidly expanding its aluminum recycling capacity: Backed by enormous state subsidies, China has more than doubled its aluminum scrap imports since 2020 and aims to produce more than 15 million metric tons of recycled aluminum by 2027. U.S. scrap exports fuel this growth, risking a repeat of the collapse of U.S. primary aluminum production and providing a direct boost to a strategic competitor.
• Recycling aluminum saves energy and reduces manufacturing costs: Recycling aluminum 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 U.S. homes during a time of record energy demand.
• Aluminum is essential for U.S. defense systems: Aluminum is used in everything from jets to drones to tanks to satellites. And securing more domestic scrap frees up limited primary aluminum supply to directly support the American warfighter.
• Scrap can address the U.S. metal supply gap: The United States currently fills a ~3.5 million metric ton annual gap in raw, unwrought aluminum metal supply through imports. Scrap export controls coupled with efforts to collect more aluminum 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 aluminum scrap exports. The United States should follow suit to maintain reciprocity and competitiveness.

Importantly, 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 minimize disruption to the current market and provide time for the industry to improve domestic sorting and processing technology to better utilize other types of scrap.

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, please visit www.aluminum.org/ScrapTheExports.