The G7 Leaders’ communiqué following the G7 Summit in Charlevoix, Qué, recognizes the negative impacts of market-distorting industrial subsidies and trade-distorting actions, as leaders expressed “the urgent need to avoid excess capacity in other sectors such as aluminum and high technology.”
“Recognition by G7 countries of the aluminium industry’s overcapacity as a result of non-compliant practices that ignore fair market practices and regulations is another step in the right direction,” says Jean Simard, President and CEO of the Aluminium Association of Canada, “if we are to resolve permanently the crisis affecting the worldwide industrial capacity for producing aluminium.”
This recognition follows the recommendations stemming from the Montreal Aluminium Summit, which brought together representatives of national aluminum associations, G7 governments and industry leaders from Canada, the United States, Europe and Japan. On this occasion, a Roadmap to a sustainable global aluminium market was presented to a representative of the Canadian Federal Government.
“For more than a decade, the Canadian aluminium industry has faced an unbalanced market,” added Simard. “It is only through international dialogue and cooperation, through the G20 and OECD, that the equilibrium in the aluminium industry will be restored. The conclusions reached today at the G7 Summit is the first step in that direction.”
The AAC wishes to draw attention to the major role played by the Government of Canada and its representatives as part of the G7 in establishing a consensual position on the matter. The Government of Canada’s commitment in this issue is significant, and the AAC will continue to work with the federal and provincial governments with the same determination in an effort to protect our industry and its growth going forward.
It is now up to the G20, who will meet in November in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to acknowledge the situation and adopt the necessary mechanisms to create a Global Multilateral and Governmental Forum on Aluminium Overcapacity based on a robust international monitoring system.
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