[ferro-alloys.com]The Aluminum Association on Monday called on the US Trump administration to provide quota-free exemptions on aluminum tariffs for Canada and Mexico, as negotiations are concluded on a modernized North American Free Trade Agreement.

In a letter to US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Association President and CEO Heidi Brock encouraged the administration to "use this negotiation process to address any national security questions specific to Canada and Mexico raised in the Commerce Department's Section 232 report.

"A successful negotiation for a modernized NAFTA should resolve these concerns, and I encourage you to recommend that President Trump provide a full exemption -- without quotas -- for aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico."

In testimony before the Senate Finance Committee earlier this year, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said: "Our objective is to have them revitalize NAFTA, a NAFTA that helps America. And as part of that, the 232s would logically go away, both as it relates to Canada and as to Mexico."

Trump's Section 232 imposed tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.

The association's letter also expresses support for a "modernized, trilateral NAFTA that includes both Canada and Mexico," noting that "integrated North American supply chains are one reason that we have been able to meet growing demand year over year."

The Aluminum Association said it continues to support quota-free Section 232 tariff exemptions for all countries designated by the Commerce Department as market economies.

The association said it believes that a negotiated, government-to- government agreement with China on overcapacity is the best way to meet the shared objective of a healthy and vibrant aluminum sector in the US.

• [Editor:王可]