• Skip to main content

    AMU

    May 9, 2025

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

    Written by Michael Cowden

    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.

    Read more from Michael Cowden

    Latest in AMU

    The words "Aluminum Market Update" in white against a dark blue background

    AMU: Edward Meir’s week in review and thoughts for the week of Oct. 12, 2026

    Base metals had a mixed week. Tin lost almost 4% on the week, finishing at $53,000/ton. Prices dropped to a low of $51,259/ton at one point. Aluminum was another loser, off by about 1.6% on the week. Investors are expecting more aluminum supply going forward, especially out of China and Indonesia. Copper prices tacked on 1.1%. They have now recovered more than half of the $700/ton loss sustained (over the course of a week) following reports/rumors in mid-September that US tariffs on refined copper imports might not proceed after all.