Aluminum is a Critical Material
Producing aluminum and maintaining access to its alloying elements is essential to U.S. economic security and national defense. The same facilities that make aluminum for cans and cars also often make aluminum for less obvious applications, like fighter jets, body armor, transmission lines, and building materials.
Why Aluminum is Critical
Aluminum is one of only 11 mineral commodities included on every government critical materials list. The Department of Defense recognizes aluminum as essential to the military industrial base; the Department of Energy recognizes aluminum as critical to the U.S. energy supply chain; and the United States Geological Service recognizes aluminum for its integration into the nation’s technology and economy. In fact, you're likely never more than 6 feet away from a piece of aluminum.
Critical materials like aluminum are essential to protecting our way of life.
Aluminum Critical Material Agenda
Eliminate reliance on minerals and materials from non-market or adversarial countries
- Establish a national strategy that supports the entire domestic aluminum supply chain, including alloying agents.
- Support existing and new legislation to address aluminum recycling, production, infrastructure and trade priorities.
- Maintain, refine and expand the 45X Advanced Manufacturing tax credit program.
Increase Aluminum production in the United States, for the United States
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Incentivize the production of more primary (new) and secondary (recycled) domestic aluminum and products, decreasing reliance on foreign countries like China for aluminum supply and alloying materials.
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Primary: Pursue permitting reform and other policies to bring new, affordable electricity online for smelters. Increase availability of bauxite/alumina. Support upgrades for aging primary facilities.
- Secondary: Support natural gas production and pipeline expansion to leverage U.S. energy resources. Explore options for new energy sources to expand access and lower the carbon footprint of the aluminum industry in the United States.
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Grow Metal Supply by Keeping More Scrap Aluminum for Recycling
Retain and grow aluminum supply through infrastructure investments to collect, sort and melt more aluminum scrap domestically.
Develop a National Strategy to Support Critical U.S. Aluminum
There are currently several different critical materials lists. Each of these lists has different purposes, but none of them provide a whole-of-government strategy for prioritizing, producing and defending the critical materials we need for our economic and national security. If the United States is to become critical materials independent, we need a national strategy that identifies clear goals, actions and outcomes.