Ford found himself on his knees before the Trump administration, according to Wall Street Journal. The Blue Oval, General Motors’ eternal rival and a longtime pillar of American truck manufacturing, is now looking for help. Two fires last fall at Novelis’ aluminum rolling mill in Oswego, New York, knocked the facility offline until at least June. The factory supplies aluminum sheet for the F-150 body. Without it, Ford imports metal from Europe and South Korea, paying a 50 percent tariff. The company has already incurred $2 billion in losses from the fires and expects an additional $1 billion this year.
So Ford asked for leniency. Quietly, then immediately. According to people familiar with the talks, the automaker petitioned the White House to waive the duties until Novelis restarts full production. The government has not budged. A White House official said Ford and other automakers “have expressed concerns about supply in light of the Novelis incident, but they have not expressly requested tariff relief on this issue.” Ford hosted President Trump on a factory tour outside Detroit in January, but the goodwill isn’t helping the company this time.
The F-150 remains the nation’s best-selling vehicle, but aluminum tariffs don’t discriminate. Even without fire, Ford would bleed out. “Even if these fires never happened, they would still be paying shipping premiums, including tariffs,” said Kaustubh Chandorkar, aluminum market analyst. Domestic buyers pay a 50 percent levy on imported metal regardless of its origin. Shipping premiums now stand at about $2,500 per metric ton. Ford pays him for every coil that crosses the border.
GM faces similar supply constraints, but quietly manages its portfolio without asking the public. The Trump administration last year allowed automakers to cover some of the costs of parts tariffs, but aluminum sheet is still subject to the full 50 percent duty. The problems Ford faces are self-inflicted: Ford relies heavily on aluminum for the F-150 and ties its supply to a single domestic source. Now the source of the fire has burned down and Washington does not provide fire extinguishers. Dearborn automakers can wait until June or keep writing checks. Whatever happens, GM stands firm.
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