A Canadian aluminium extruder is refusing to move its production to the US despite facing a sharp increase in tariffs that could effectively shut it out of one of its largest markets.
Apex Aluminum Extrusions, based in Langley, British Columbia, says more than 40 per cent of its sales previously went to the US. The company expects those exports to fall to zero as US tariff measures on aluminium extrusions intensify.
Darren McQueen, head of Apex, said the combined impact of the latest measures would result in a 100 per cent tariff on the company’s selling price from September 15, after Section 338 tariffs are stacked on top of Section 232 duties.
“Forty-plus per cent of our sales were into the U.S., and that will drop to zero,” McQueen said.
The company produces aluminium profiles used across a wide range of finished products. Its exposure to the US market means the tariff escalation is already affecting its operations, with Apex having laid off around half of its workforce, according to McQueen.
The impact is not limited to Canadian exporters. Apex says the tariff environment is also changing competition within Canada’s domestic aluminium market.
Because the US measures apply broadly to aluminium extrusions entering the US, producers from other countries are also looking towards Canada as an alternative market.
McQueen said aluminium extrusion imports from Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand have risen 40 per cent this year, adding pressure on Canadian producers.
“Canada has no barriers, so what we’re seeing is, this year alone, a 40-per-cent increase of aluminum extrusions coming in from Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand,” he mentioned.
At the same time, Canada has not imposed equivalent tariffs on comparable aluminium products made in the US, according to McQueen.
That leaves Canadian extrusion producers facing pressure on both sides: access to their US customers is being restricted while competition from overseas suppliers is increasing in their home market.