Aluminum Association President & CEO Charles Johnson issued the following statement in response to President Trump’s Executive Order Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production. The order aims to expand U.S. critical minerals production in the United States:

“This executive order lays the groundwork to fortify the nation’s critical materials supply chain while fostering ongoing industry investment and innovation. The Aluminum Association welcomes this action, which will help improve U.S. material self-sufficiency and minimize the need to import critical minerals from non-market or adversarial countries. As one of only 11 mineral commodities included on the Department of Defense and all other government critical materials lists, aluminum is essential to modern life – in everything from cars and cans to tanks and fighter jets. Increasing upstream aluminum production in the United States will support growing jobs and investment in the industry further downstream.” 

The U.S. aluminum industry is an essential material for the nation's economy and defense industrial base. Today, the industry generates $228 billion in economic output and supports 700,000 total American jobs. And since 2016, the U.S. aluminum industry has made more than $10 billion in domestic manufacturing investments including the first new U.S. rolling mills since 1980. Thanks to robust domestic demand and coming investment, the U.S. aluminum industry needs a steady and predictable supply of primary, secondary and scrap aluminum to continue growth and investment.