Global trade is like a five-cushion billiard game, with rebounds that are hard to predict. The 25% tariffs imposed by United States President Donald Trump since March 12 on aluminum are a textbook case.
The European Union does not export much aluminum to the US – about 2% to 4% of its annual production. The same is true for France: "Today, we do not export to the US at all, so we will not be directly affected," said Guillaume de Goÿs, president of Europe's largest foundry, Aluminium Dunkerque, to La Voix du Nord local newspaper in February. At first glance, the impact should be limited.
But to believe that would be a grave error, according to Gerhard Anger, head of Alu-met – a company with 150 employees specializing in recycled aluminum with two industrial sites, in Germany and Austria. "It's going to be a disaster for us. Our factories will lose money," he said. Rob van Gils, who leads Hammerer Aluminium Industries, a large company with eight plants in Germany and Central Europe that employs 2,000 people and also specializes in recycled aluminum, agreed: "If the European Union does not react, we will be forced to reduce production."
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