Trade wars, tariffs and uncertainty — that is not how aluminum industry leaders thought their global summit would start.
“This is the wrong thing, the wrong way and the wrong time, because the real problem is the overcapacity,” Jean Simard, president of the Aluminium Association of Canada, told Global News Sunday ahead of the summit.
By invitation only, 100 industry leaders from Canada, the United States, Europe and Japan are in Montreal to come up with a road map to deal with the issue of overcapacity in the world aluminum market.
According to Simard, it is the core issue plaguing the industry that leads to protectionism and tariffs.
“We were making progress, and then the tariffs happened,” said Simard. “I think we have lost a bit of momentum, but we will still move forward.”
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The tariffs imposed by the United States on steel and aluminum will not only harm Canada’s producers, but could do permanent damage to the American industry.
“South of the border there could be a loss of 45 billion dollars of value loss because of this situation,” Simard said. “It cannot last.”
The Aluminium Association of Canada represents three of Canada’s big players, Alcoa, Alouette and Rio Tinto.
Those three companies employ 8,000 people and run 10 smelters, nine of them in Quebec. So the stakes over the next few weeks are high for the industry.
The aluminum summit will send its findings to the G7 leaders who are meeting in the Quebec town of LaMalbaie June 8 and 9.
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