US aluminium, steel prices jump, shares drop on Trump's new tariffs

[TomSlick]

5. The problem is that aluminum production is too expensive in the US.

The main cost for producing aluminum is electricity. Aluminum can only be produced where electricity is readily available and relatively cheap.

There are currently four aluminum reduction (smelting) plants operating in the US. When I was a kid, there were two reduction plants in Arkansas, a bauxite (aluminum ore) refining plant, and a rolling mill. (Back in the day, bauxite was mined in Arkansas. There is still a town of Bauxite south of Little Rock.) All that remains is the rolling mill.

Aluminum reduction plants are a major construction, especially if electricity production facilities must be constructed.

New plants will not be built based on TACO tariffs.