Aluminum Scrap Markets
June 2, 2026
Report: US needs to invest in major metals to compete with China
Written by Stephanie Ritenbaugh
The US is competing with China on advanced technologies, semiconductors and critical minerals, but major metals aren’t getting enough attention, according to a report from the SAFE’s Center for Strategic Industrial Materials.
The report, Strategic Surpluses: China’s Economic Warfare on Major Metals, found China’s state-backed dominance of steel, aluminum and copper production has created a national security vulnerability for the United States, distorted global markets and weakened US industrial capacity.
“Steel, aluminum, and copper are not just commercial commodities. They are the building blocks of defence production, grid infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and US economic security,” said Joe Quinn, executive director of SAFE’s Center for Strategic Industrial Materials. “China understands this. The United States needs to act like it does, too.”
The report found China’s state-directed industrial model supports production by state planning, state-owned enterprises, below-market financing, energy subsidies, coordinated industrial policy, and other non-market tools.
The result is a level of production capacity far beyond domestic demand, allowing Bejing to export excess supply and influence global prices, it said.
The report argues that tariffs are an important tool — but not the only one. The organization recommended the following policy agenda:
- Allocate federal funds to modernize steel, aluminum, and copper facilities.
- Ensure the electric grid is ready to support large new industrial loads.
- Accelerate recycling and treat high-quality metal scrap as a strategic asset.
- Invest in manufacturing innovation, advanced metallurgy, and energy efficiency.
- Create a Federal Consortium for Advanced Metals to coordinate federal policy.
- Improve Commerce Department supply chain visibility for steel, aluminum, copper, and scrap flows.
- Strengthen US trade policy, including rules of origin, tariff enforcement, and tools to prevent dumped or subsidized metals from entering through finished products.
- Coordinate with trusted allies to respond to the Chinese Communist Party’s non-market practices.
- Fill workforce gaps through apprenticeships, technical training, and retention incentives.
“Restoring America’s major metals capacity will not happen through any single policy action,” Quinn said. “It requires a coordinated industrial strategy that treats steel, aluminum, and copper as the strategic materials they are.”
