Aluminum

Join SMU and AMU on Wednesday for a Community Chat on aluminum, tariffs, and trade

Written by Michael Cowden

May 9, 2025

Tariffs, sanctions, and embargoes, oh my! And they’re hitting aluminum just as hard as steel.

So join SMU on Wednesday, May 14, at 11 am ET (10 am CT) for a special Community Chat focusing on the impact of Trump’s trade policies on the aluminum market.

We’ll bring you expertise from Aluminum Market Update (AMU), an SMU sister publication that’s scheduled to launch this summer.

You can register here. The live webinar is free for anyone to attend. A recording will be available only to SMU subscribers.

What we’ll talk about

AMU Senior Adviser Greg Wittbecker will address not only US tariffs but also evolving trade routes – and how supply chains are (or aren’t) adjusting. He’ll also touch on broader industrial impacts, from auto layoffs to the potential ripple effect of maritime tax policies.

AMU Managing Editor Gabriella Vagnini will bring the key takeaways from AMU’s latest aluminum market survey. Will we see muted optimism or more tariff anxiety? She’ll also unpack what the latest noise out of Washington actually means for automakers and their aluminum suppliers. Are we seeing real shifts or just shiny distractions?

And we’ll take your questions too. So register and bring some good ones to the Q&A on Wednesday, May 14, at 11 am ET.

Editor’s note

Are you looking for the latest aluminum market intelligence? You can be among the first to pre-register for AMU. To do so, reach out to AMU Senior Editor Gabriella Vagnini at gabriella.vagnini@crugroup.com.

Michael Cowden

Michael Cowden is editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. Cowden has covered the steel industry since 2007. He specializes in flat-rolled steel but has also reported on steel long products, steel pipe and tube, and aluminum. Before joining SMU, Cowden held reporting jobs at Fastmarkets AMM in Chicago, the Associated Press in Pittsburgh, and the Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh. He has also worked as a copy editor and in marketing at the University of Chicago Press. Cowden has a BA in English from the University of Chicago and an MSJ journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Contact him at michael@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7872.

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