I'm not convinced. I think it HELPS US manufacturing of those raw materials. Will there be an adjustment period: sure. Will the US be just fine with out Canadian aluminum: yep.
Maybe not.
(From an article linked below)
Key to understanding the counterproductive nature of this move, say industry watchers, is the inherent Canadian advantage bestowed by its abundant hydroelectric resources.
Aluminum is made from bauxite, a raw material Canada has very little of (almost half of the world's reserves are in Guinea or Australia).
The other main input is electricity. Canada — especially Quebec — produces a lot of cheap hydro.
U.S. electricity rates are much higher. The price differential for this critical input far outweighs the cost of a 10 per cent tariff.
That's why U.S. industry buys half of its aluminum from Canada — nearly four times as much as it buys from its own producers.
The 14 U.S. aluminum smelters are typically older, smaller, and less cost-efficient than their counterparts in Canada, not to mention the ones in China and Russia. More than half of them are either closed or operating well below capacity.
Just one Canadian smelter — Aluminerie Alouette Inc. in Sept-Iles, Que. — comes close to equalling the entire output of the U.S. aluminum industry.
Jorge Vasquez of Harbor Aluminum, Austin, Texas. "The U.S. needs Canadian production." (Harbor Aluminum)
"This is not going to make the U.S. smelting industry more competitive. Not even artificially competitive," Vasquez told CBC News.
"The U.S. is going to lose more jobs than it gains. No question about it."
Full article here:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cana...riff-1.4686655
