The cost of aluminum for consumers in Europe buying on the physical market has dropped due to expectations that Canadian shipments under U.S. tariffs from Tuesday will be diverted, physical market traders said.
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The U.S. is a major importer of aluminum used widely in the transport, packaging and construction industries, shipping in 5.46 million metric tons of aluminum products in 2023, according the U.S. Commerce Department.
According to the Commerce Department, Canada accounted for 3.08 million tons or 56 per centof aluminum product imports to the United States for domestic consumption in 2023, the latest full year data available.
I find “Trump 2.0” useful to differentiate how I expect things to go down. Trump 1.0 came in and and flailed a lot. The US’ system of checks and balances moderated many of his “policy goals”. Trump 2.0 looks to replace competence in the bureaucracy with loyalty, and subverting any checks and balances.
A lot of power has accumulated within the office of the Presidency in the US. I used to figure that an advantage of the US system vs the Westminster model is that a PM with a majority in Parliament has very little he can’t do, as long as they are able to whip the votes. It seems that the US has drifted into an elected King almost. Broad authority within the Presidency will probably not go away anytime soon.
This makes for a very unstable government, assuming elections even stay fair.
Trump is old, there is going to be a post Trump era soon, but I don’t see a reversal if this model of governance. We can only deal with the US in 4 year terms from now on. Anything long term is too uncertain.