Montreal, June 30, 2016- Yesterday, at the North American Leaders’ Summit which took place in Ottawa, Canada, the United States and Mexico committed to reinforcing trade policy instruments and international trade mechanisms in order to address government policies contributing to current distortions in the steel and aluminum markets, within the framework of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and World Trade Organization (WTO).

“The confirmation by US president Barack Obama at the North American Leaders’ Summit of an agreement towards the reduction of excess capacity and production of steel and aluminium is definitely a step in the right direction. We salute the leadership displayed by the North American leaders and welcome this significant political commitment”, said Jean Simard, President and CEO of the Aluminium Association of Canada (AAC).

“This shared commitment on the part of the North American leaders to preserve, within the rules of international trade, a totally integrated industrial value chain at the continental level, as is the case with aluminium, is key. All the way from Canada through the United States and to Mexico, from primary production to cast parts to specialized alloy components, the North American aluminium industry supplies numerous sectors, in particular aerospace and car manufacturing. Hundreds of thousands of jobs are linked to it, and create wealth throughout the continent”, continued Jean Simard.

This unprecedented commitment meant to counter the artificial support and excess capacity of certain countries, as well as the firm intention to favour transparency and the exchange of accurate and relevant information regarding the status of worldwide production, adds momentum to the efforts of both the steel and aluminium sectors. Our common objective is to ensure fair and free trade based on trade principles recognized and shared by the vast majority of our economic partners”, concluded Mr. Simard.

The AAC enthusiastically supports these steps, in the same spirit as its recent proposal to work on a multi-stakeholder and continental basis to put an end to the devastating effects of excess production capacity and fraudulent imports on our markets.

About the Aluminium Association of Canada

The Aluminium Association of Canada (AAC) is a non-profit organization representing three world- class aluminium producers in Canada: Alcoa Canada Primary Products Group, Aluminerie Alouette and Rio Tinto. These three companies operate ten plants in Canada, nine of them in Quebec, and employ over 9,000 people. They account for over 10% of the balance of trade of Quebec and spend annually over 3 G$ in its economy. www.aluminium.ca

Information:

Yann Langlais Plante
Senior Consultant – TACT Intelligence-conseil
514 779-2874
ylanglais-Plante@tactconseil.ca