Rio Tinto exec doubts tariffs will move aluminum production to US

Mining giant expects import levy to be largely passed on through higher prices

20250515 Rio Tinto's Bell Bay Aluminium smelter

Rio Tinto's Bell Bay aluminum smelter in Australia. A senior executive at the mining giant says it would take "many, many years" to build up U.S. production of the metal. © Rio Tinto

SHOTARO TANI

TOKYO -- An executive at global mining giant Rio Tinto has cast doubt on whether U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policies will repatriate production of aluminum, a metal deemed strategically critical by Washington.

Trump wants to bring back manufacturing of everything from cars to steel to the U.S. using tariffs, including a 25% levy on all imports of aluminum. But the conditions for smelting the metal are "not good" in the U.S., Jerome Pecresse, chief executive of Rio Tinto's aluminum business, told Nikkei Asia.

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