Aluminum tariffs could cost 100,000 U.S. jobs, Alcoa CEO warns

PITTSBURGH — Alcoa Corp. CEO WIlliam Oplinger told an investors conference Tuesday that the upcoming tariffs on aluminum could cost tens of thousands of American jobs if they’re implemented.

The Trump administration wants to increase taxes on foreign imports of aluminum to 25% amid the plan to increase tariffs on steel imports and eliminate all exemptions, even from metals made in Canada and Mexico and then shipped to the United States. Speaking to an investors conference Tuesday, Oplinger put up a warning flag about the impact on the overall economy of a 25% tariff.

“We have a view that a 25% tariff will destroy about 20,000 direct U.S. aluminum industry jobs and could result in 80,000 indirect jobs being eliminated in the United States,” Oplinger said. “So we view that it’s bad for the U.S.”