China’s aluminum makers say tariffs won’t deter overseas growth

me-metals: Chinese aluminum producers are on track to expand overseas capacity, saying they remain unfazed by the uncertainties caused by US President Donald Trump’s attempts to reorder global trade.

According to me-metals cited from mining.com, The world’s largest aluminum exporters also played down the impact of US tariffs on their outbound shipments, citing robust demand for Chinese metal from other markets.

“We will stick to expansions overseas” due to “big pressure” on domestic capacity, said Weixin Chen, secretary of Jiangsu Dingsheng New Materials Co., which already has production bases in Thailand and Europe. She spoke at a conference in Suzhou in the eastern province of Jiangsu on Wednesday.

As they battle oversupply at home, Chinese aluminum fabricators, which dominate global capacity, have faced complaints from foreign competitors that say they’re flooding the market. Trump has imposed blanket 25% tariffs on all imports of the metal, along with steel, saying they harm US manufacturing.

But China’s producers are “numb to tariffs,” said He Zhigang, deputy general manager of Henan Mingtai Al. Industrial Co., citing years of trade restrictions imposed by Western countries. He added demand for the metal produced in China remains strong due to its competitiveness. “It just need a bit time to overcome this round of anti-dumping from the US,” He said at the industry conference.

Still, China’s aluminum exports fell this year following the removal of a tax rebate, which had helped fuel a decades-long boom in outbound shipments. Exports fell more than 7% in the first three months to 1.37 million tons.

source: mining.com