“Today marked a powerful moment for the UK aluminium industry and I’ve only just sat down to take it all in”, said ALFED’s CEO, Nadine Bloxsome.
While the headlines are rightly dominated by news of the US Government’s decision to impose damaging new tariffs – including 25% on UK aluminium, automotive and steel exports – our focus at the Aluminium Federation (ALFED) remains on how we turn challenge into action.
At ALFED HQ today, we were proud to host the launch workshop for the UK Aluminium Alliance – a new national initiative designed to champion aluminium as a strategic material for the UK’s economic, security, and net-zero future.
The workshop was co-ordinated in partnership with Dr Mark Jones of CONETZ – Connecting for Net Zero, whose leadership in aligning cross-sector strategy and industrial collaboration was instrumental in shaping the day’s outcomes.
With input from across industry and government, we’re building a framework to leverage the Steel Council model, bringing together defence, automotive, construction, and recycling to drive investment, shape policy and ensure aluminium’s future is forged in the UK.
We support calls from Make UK for a dedicated ‘Tariff Taskforce’, but believe it must include not just broad industry representation – it must be laser-focused on sectors hardest hit: aluminium, steel and vehicle manufacturers. With competitive energy pricing, access to domestic scrap, and trade stability under pressure, the time to act is now.
Watch this space for more on the UK Aluminium Alliance and thank you to all of those who were part of the important conversations today.
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