Are tariffs the answer to save America’s declining aluminium industry?
On the banks of the Ohio River in a rural corner of one of America’s poorest states sit two factories, one next to the other.
One is open. The other is shuttered. Both cut to the heart of what Donald Trump hopes he can do to transform America’s industrial base.
Ravenswood, West Virginia, is a town built on aluminium. Since the 1950s, the wonder-metal has kept this place on the map.
Once upon a time, the metal itself was produced here. A massive smelting plant dominated the skyline, and inside, huge furnaces, transforming American aluminium ore (alumina) into the metal we recognise.
The newly smelted metal was then sent by river, rail and road to other factories dotted across the country to be cast – turned to sheet and coil for the nation’s cars, planes, trucks and so much more.
The Kaiser Aluminium plant closed its smelters in 2009
Kaiser Aluminium closed its smelters in 2009. The plant now sits idle. Fencing surrounds it; grass partially obscures the entrance, where hundreds of workers would once have passed.
Two hundred metres down the road, there is a different story.
Constellium Ravenswood is one of the world’s largest factories of its kind.
With over a thousand employees it produces plate, sheet and coiled aluminium for numerous industries: aerospace, defence, transportation, marine and more.
Its products are custom designed for clients including Boeing, Lockheed Martin and NASA.
But here’s the problem. The Constellium plant uses aluminium now sourced from abroad. America’s primary aluminium production has dropped off a cliff over the past few decades.
The Kaiser plant next door which could have provided the metal for its neighbour to process and press was instead the victim of cheap foreign competition and high energy costs.
Smelting aluminium requires huge amounts of constant energy. If the smelters are ever turned off, the metal inside will solidify, destroying the facility.
Constellium Ravenswood is one of the world’s largest factories of its kind
In 2023, the annual rate of US primary aluminium production fell 21.4% on the previous year, according to the Aluminium Association.
However, the Canadian Aluminium Association projected that their annual production would be up by 6.12% in 2024 compared to the previous year.
The story is clear – this industry, like so many in America, is in steep decline. Competition and high production and energy costs are having a huge impact.
The danger ahead is that secondary aluminium production in America could go the way of primary production: firms down the supply chain could choose to buy their sheeting and coils from abroad too.
The answer, says President Trump, is tariffs. And the chief executive of Constellium agrees with him.
“We believe in free AND fair trade,” Jean-Marc Germain told Sky News from the company’s corporate headquarters in Baltimore. “And the point is that trade has been free but not fair.”
“There has been massive growth in the capacity installed in China. Kudos to the Chinese people, that is admirable, but a lot of that has been allowed by illegal subsidies. What it means is that overall, trade of aluminium products is broken as an international system. And I think those tariffs are a way to address some of that very uneven playing field that we are seeing today.”
Mr Germain says the tariff plan will reset the market. He accepts that blanket tariffs are a blunt and risky tool, but cuts out circumvention by one country to another.
“Obviously, this process creates some collateral damage. It is clear that not all countries and not all products are unfairly traded. But because of the sheer size of China and the history of Chinese production making its way through certain countries into the US… a blunt approach is required,” he says.
Jean-Marc Germain, chief executive of Constellium, agrees with Trump’s tariffs
The White House 25% tariff plan for steel and aluminium is global and causing huge angst.
Experts say a long-term domestic rebalance, revitalising the American industrial sector, will take many years and is not guaranteed.
But upending the status quo and disrupting established supply chains risks significant short and medium-term disruption, both at source and destination.
The foreign aluminium arriving at Ravenswood’s Constellium plant to be pressed will now cost 25% more – a hike in price which Mr Germain says his firm can ride out to achieve the longer-term rebalance.
“I’m not going to say that an increase in cost is a good thing for customers. But I think it’s important to look at things and put them in proportion…” he says.
Proportion is not a luxury all can afford. 250 miles to the east, in Washington DC and just four miles from the frenetic policy decisions at the White House, the Right Proper Brewing Company is a dream realised for Thor Cheston.
Thor shows me around his small warehouse-based business that is clearly thriving.
He takes me to the grain silos around the back. The grain is from Canada.
Thor relies on an international supply chain – the cans are aluminium and from Canada too. Some of the malt is from Germany and from Britain.
It is a complex global web of manufacturing to make American beer. Margins are tight.
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“We don’t have the luxury of just raising our prices. We’re in a competitive landscape,” Thor says. Competition with big breweries, who can more easily absorb increased costs.
The cans will probably go up in price on his next order. He doesn’t yet know how much of the 25% will be passed on to him by his supplier.
“We’ve dealt with major problems like this before. We’ve had to pivot a lot. We have survived the global pandemic. We’ve done it before, but we don’t want to. We just need a break.”
What about the government’s argument to ‘buy American’?
“It’s not as simple as that,” Thor says.
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Will there be impacts from Trump’s latest tariffs?
Back in West Virginia the mighty Ohio River snakes past the Ravenswood factories.
It still carries what’s left of America’s heavy industry. A vast multi-vessel barge full of coal passed as I chatted to locals in the nearby town of Parkersburg, a pleasant place but not the thriving industrial community it once was.
“We used to have a really nice aluminium plant right down the river here and it shut down,” one resident reflects in a passing conversation.
Here you can see why many rolled the dice for Trump.
Sam Cumpstone said Obama ruined lives in West Virginia by shutting down mines
“In West Virginia, we’re big on coal,” Sam Cumpstone tells me.
He works in the railways to transport coal. The industry went through economic devastation in the late noughties, the closure of hundreds of mines causing huge unemployment.
Sam is clear on who he blames: “Obama shut down mines and made ghost towns in West Virginia. It ruined a lot of people’s lives.”
There is recognition here that Trump’s sweeping economic plans could cause prices to rise, at least in the short term. But for Trump voter Kathy Marcum, the pain would be worth it.
Trump supporter Kathy Marcum believes tariffs are the way forward
“He’s putting tariffs on other countries that bring their things in, and that way it equals out. It has to be even-stevens as far as I’m concerned… He is a smart businessman. He knows what the hell he’s talking about.
“It might be rough for a little while, but in the long run I think it will be best for the country.”
Communities have been let down over generations – either by politicians or by inevitable globalisation. There is still deep scepticism here.
“No politician worth millions or billions of dollars cares about me or you. Nobody,” Sam tells me at the end of our conversation.
The Trump tariff blueprint is full of jeopardy. If it fails, it will be places like West Virginia, that will be hit hardest again.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has accused the US of a coup attempt after Donald Trump approved CIA operations in the country to tackle alleged drug trafficking.
Mr Trump confirmed his decision, first revealed by The New York Times, as he said large amounts of drugs were entering the US from Venezuela – much of it trafficked by sea.
“We are looking at land now, because we’ve got the sea very well under control,” he said.
When asked why the coastguard wasn’t asked to intercept suspected drug trafficking boats, which has been a longstanding US practice, Mr Trump said the approach had been ineffective.
“I think Venezuela is feeling heat,” he said.
Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday evening. Pic: Reuters
Maduro hits back
He declined to answer whether the CIA has the authority to execute Mr Maduro, who denies accusations from Washington that he has connections to drug trafficking and organised crime.
The US has offered a $50m (£37m) reward for information leading to his arrest.
“How long will the CIA continue to carry on with its coups?” he asked after Mr Trump’s comments on Wednesday evening, saying calls for regime change harkened back to “failed eternal wars” in Afghanistan and Iraq.
In a message to the American people, he said in English: “Not war, yes peace. The people of the US, please.”
President Nicolas Maduro. Pic: Reuters
US targets ‘drug boats’
Mr Trump also alleged Venezuela had sent a significant number of prisoners, including individuals from mental health facilities, into the US, though he did not specify the border through which they reportedly entered.
On Tuesday, he announced America had targeted a small boat suspected of drug trafficking in waters off the Venezuelan coast, resulting in the deaths of six people.
According to the president’s post on social media, all those killed were aboard the vessel.
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Footage of the strike was released by Donald Trump on social media. Pic: Truth Social
The incident marked the fifth such fatal strike in the Caribbean, as the Trump administration continues to classify suspected drug traffickers as unlawful combatants to be confronted with military force.
War secretary Pete Hegseth authorised the strike, according to Mr Trump, who released a video of the operation.
The black-and-white footage showed a small boat seemingly stationary on the water. It is struck by a projectile from above and explodes, then drifts while burning for several seconds.
Mr Trump said the “lethal kinetic strike” was in international waters and targeted a boat travelling along a well-known smuggling route.
There has also been a significant increase in US military presence in the southern Caribbean, with at least eight warships, a submarine, and F-35 jets stationed in Puerto Rico.
A 39-year-old man died in hospital alone, miles from his family, after being detained by US immigration officials.
Ismael Ayala-Uribe, who had lived in the US since he was four, fell ill while in an immigration detention centre in California.
Ismael Ayala-Uribe was well known in the local Latino community
He complained of a fever and had a persistent cough in the weeks before he died, according to his mother Lucia.
She said he was initially treated by medical staff inside the detention centre but was returned to his cell.
He was eventually taken to hospital for a scheduled surgery to remove an abscess on his buttocks, but died before he was able to have the operation.
His family were never told he was in hospital, learning of his death via a knock on the door from police.
“They’re the ones that notified us that he had passed,” his brother, Jose Ayala, told Sky News.
“We were not even aware that he was in the hospital or even had a scheduled surgery. Then we got a knock on our door a little after 5.30 one morning.
“I believe he would still be alive today if he was never detained. He got sick while in detention, and they did not seem to take care of him.”
Ismael’s brother Jose speaks to Sky News
Why was he detained?
Mr Ayala-Uribe’s death raises questions about the conditions inside the centre he was held in, and if a sudden surge of immigrants being detained by this administration has left the system stretched beyond breaking point.
He had moved to the US from Mexico with his family as a child.
He did have DACA – deferred action for childhood arrivals – status, granted to those who have arrived while under the age of 18. But this was removed in 2016, after he was convicted of drink-driving.
In August, he was arrested by immigration agents at a car wash in California where he had worked for 15 years.
He was held for five weeks at Adelanto, a privately owned, run-for-profit, immigrant detention centre. A lawyer for his family said he was, as far as they are aware, a healthy man before he was detained and had no medical need.
But Mr Ayala-Uribe’s mother, who was visiting him every eight days and speaking to him on the phone a couple of times a day, said she noticed him getting progressively unwell.
Ismael’s brother and mother, Lucia
“He started with lots of fever,” Ms Ayala said. “He said they weren’t listening to him. The last time I saw him his face was drained, he told me he was not OK, he told me he couldn’t take it any more.”
Beginning to cry, wiping away tears, she added: “I feel powerless that I couldn’t do anything to help my son.
“I never imagined I was going to bury one of my sons. It feels terrible, they took a piece of my heart away.
“I would like something to change. If we cannot save him, at least we can save others that are still inside.”
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Inside Trump’s immigration raids
ICE defends detention treatment
The cause of Mr Ayala-Uribe’s death is still under investigation.
Sky News requested comment from the company which owns the detention centre where he was held, and they deferred to ICE, the US immigration and customs enforcement agency.
In a statement, ICE said: “Comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment individuals arrive and throughout the entirety of their stay.
“At no time during detention is a detained illegal alien denied emergency care.”
The Trump administration says it’s targeting criminals and people in the US illegally. But campaigners say Mr Ayala-Uribe’s death should not be viewed in isolation.
Images from Ismael’s funeral service
Since Donald Trump took office, at least 15 people have died in immigration detention.
Democrat senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock wrote a letter to the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, asking for more information about these deaths.
The senators claimed 10 people had died between January and June, and that it was the highest rate in the first six months of any year publicly available.
Sarah Houston, a lawyer for the Immigrant Defenders Law Centre, claims immigrants are being mistreated in custody.
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The people fighting back against ICE raids
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ICE raids: ‘This is like Vietnam’
“This administration’s main goal is to harm, to torture individuals and to try to force them out,” she said.
“The great increase we see in human rights abuses, in deaths, is a direct result of the administration’s decision to pack these detention centres as much as they can.”
Mr Ayala-Uribe’s funeral was held this week. Dozens of extended family and friends wore t-shirts bearing his face. A mariachi band played as his casket was lowered into the ground and his mother heaved with sobs.
As they absorb their loss, the effort to carry out the biggest mass deportation operation in US history continues.
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