Pittsburgh — US imports of primary aluminum from Canada plunged in September, falling short of quota levels recently imposed by President Donald Trump that could trigger tariffs if exceeded, according to data released Nov. 6 by the US International Trade Commission.

Canadian shipments of unwrought, nonalloyed primary aluminum (P1020) to the US under HTS code 760110 dropped to 66,100 mt in September. The month's import levels represented declines of 48.7% month on month and 52.5% year on year.

September's imports from Canada managed to sink below the 83,000 mt quota level for the month set by Trump in a presidential proclamation signed and released in October.

In the proclamation, Trump said the US may reimpose a 10% aluminum tariff under Section 232 on Canadian shipments if imports exceed specific volume levels set for each respective month from September to December. The quotas currently stand at 70,000 mt for October, 83,000 mt for November and 70,000 mt for December.

Shipments from Canada were exempted from the tariff in 2019. The tariff was reimposed on US imports from Canada in August and later officially pulled back and replaced with quotas in October.

The US-based Aluminum Association said imports of aluminum from Canada under the HTS code have now declined for three consecutive months.

"The Aluminum Association has long argued that imports of P1020 aluminum would likely decline as smelters in Canada (and elsewhere around the world) continue to rebalance production between P1020 and value-added product metal following the most severe economic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic," the association said in a newsletter Nov. 6.

Within the broader category of unwrought aluminum products under HTS code 7601, which includes both alloyed and nonalloyed metals, total US September imports shrunk 26.6% year on year to 214,429 mt.

Imports from Canada in the month under 7601 also fell to 150,976 mt from 208,453 mt during the same month last year.

US domestic exports of unwrought aluminum totaled 23,947 mt in September, up from 22,641 mt in the year-ago period and 23,378 mt in August.

Aluminum can stock imports slide

ITC data showed that US imports of aluminum alloy can stock fell to 11,763 mt in September from 15,855 mt in September 2019.

Imports of can stock under HTS codes 7606123045 and 7606123055 have declined year on year in each month since May. September's shipments are the second-lowest year-to-date.

The leading origins of US can stock imports were Saudi Arabia (6,018 mt), China (3,615 mt) and South Korea (889 mt).

Year-to-date through September, shipments of can stock imports to the US have totaled 130,376 mt, up from 128,099 in the same period last year.

Speaking to industry analysts during an earnings call in October, Constellium CEO Jean-Marc Germain said the slight increase in can sheet imports over the last year could possibly be attributed to market distortions caused by the aluminum tariffs and the numerous exemptions to the tariff that are granted.

However, compared to US production, the imports will continue to play only a minor role in the domestic market balance due to numerous factors, he added

"These are long supply chains, and you got problems with what you do with the process scrap," Germain said. "You can't return it to the mill as you can if you're sourcing from a domestic supplier."

Germain said sustainability issues also encouraged US producers to source domestically instead of overseas.

"A lot of these imports come from sources in the world where power generation is much dirtier than it is here in the US or Canada," he said. "Over time, this is something that will become less and less veritable as the carbon content of that aluminum sourced from overseas is penalized by the source of the electricity that is used to produce the aluminum, the high transportation cost and energy requirements to get it here and the lack of recyclability of the process scrap."

At its plant in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the Paris-based Constellium recycles nearly 20 billion cans per year and produces aluminum can sheet for the beverage and packaging industry, according to its website.