The US government has reportedly rejected aluminum tariff relief requests raised by Ford Motor and other American automakers. The news comes after multiple fire tragedies at Novelis aluminum rolling plant in late 2025 severely impacted US auto aluminum supply. The report was first broken as an “exclusive” by The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday (US time).
Ford had asked Trump admin for aluminum tariff relief: Report
Citing people familiar with the talks, the US news report suggested that the unprecedented mishaps had prompted supply snags for vehicles including the F-150 pickup.
Two fires at the major American factory in Oswego, New York, took the facility offline at least until this June. Unfortunately, blazes occurred in the part of the facility where aluminum is rolled into thin sheets. These are later stamped into automotive body parts.
Until operations resume at the New York facility, companies like Ford have been relying on metal imports instead, thereby subjecting them to duties under US President Donald Trump’s tariff regime.
Novelis aluminum rolling plant is the largest domestic supplier of aluminum sheet for the US auto industry. Its top clients include about a dozen companies, including Ford, Stellantis, General Motors and foreign automakers with US production facilities. In the wake of the fires at the Oswego plant, a unit of India’s Hindalco Industries has been contributing to the production with aluminum from its plants in Europe and South Korea.
In light of the imports, automakers have been subjected to 50% tariffs under the Donald Trump administration. Consequently, the additional duties have most severely impacted Ford, which significantly relied on the Oswego plant for aluminum for its best-selling F-150 truck.
Earlier this year, Ford said that it was already losing out on $2 billion due to the fires. It also noted that it was expected to spend an additional $1 billion in 2026 on aluminum imports.
Where does the Trump admin stand on aluminum tariff relief requests?
According to people familiar with the reported development, Ford had requested duty relief from the Trump admin until at least the Oswego plant resumes full service. As of now, the administration has reportedly not changed its view on the matter.
As per The Wall Street Journal, Trump officials told the companies seeking assistance that some relief had already been provided from other national security tariffs in 2025. The US media report quoted a White House official saying that while Ford and other companies “have raised supply concerns in light of the Novelis incident, they have not requested tariff relief on this matter in a particularly pronounced way.”
Just a few days ago, the White House released a face sheet titled “President Donald J Trump Strengthens Tariffs on Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Imports.” Therein, officials highlighted that the Trump admin was committed to bolstering domestic manufacturing of strategic metals and their derivates. The Proclamation signed by Trump “defines the way that tariffs are assessed, ensuring that they reflect the full value of imported steel, aluminum, and copper products—not an artificially low foreign price.”
Clear rules established therein further stated, “Articles made entirely or almost entirely of aluminum, steel, or copper will pay a flat 50% on their full value — for example, steel coils and aluminum sheet.
“Derivative articles substantially made of steel, aluminum, or copper will pay a flat 25% on their full value.
“Certain metal-intensive industrial equipment and electrical grid equipment will pay 15% through 2027, to accelerate the massive industrial base buildout currently underway across the United States.
“Products made abroad but entirely with American steel, aluminum, and copper will be subject to lower tariffs of 10%.
“Products made of 15% or less steel, aluminum, or copper will no longer be subject to Section 232 metals tariffs.”
