Over a hundred Aluminum Association members from across the industry attended the Aluminum Association’s annual meeting here in Washington, D.C., at The Wharf. Several Lot Sixteeners were happy to join the meeting to discuss pressing matters facing the industry, from recycling and sustainability to trade and vehicle electrification. Here’s what we covered.
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Lot Sixteen Senior Vice President Nasim Fussell and Director Mary Kate Carter joined the Aluminum Association in welcoming United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai for a keynote session on the global trading environment and critical issues affecting the aluminum industry. In conversation with Aluminum Association President and CEO Charles Johnson, Ambassador Tai laid out the Biden administration’s worker-centered trade policy and how the new approach benefits domestic industries like aluminum production. She also offered updates on her agency’s ongoing work to strengthen trade relations with Canada and Mexico, negotiating progress with the European Union on the Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminum, and of course, U.S.-China trade relations.
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With a government shutdown looming at the time, Lot Sixteen Vice President Annie Gayman presented an overview of why Congress was facing a shutdown and the impacts a shutdown would have had for both the federal government and Aluminum Association members, including the pausing of grant and loan processing, delays in permits and environmental reviews, and the halting of export and import applications. Thankfully, Congress avoided the shutdown.

Lot Sixteen Vice President Annie Gayman [far right] presenting at the Aluminium Association’s Annual Meeting

Lot Sixteen Senior Associate Jamie Lorgus joined Annie to summarize the Lot’s very successful several months of helping the aluminum industry understand and apply for some of the landmark federal funding resulting from the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
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The Lot looks forward to continuing our work with the Aluminum Association to increase the benefits the aluminum industry receives from Capitol Hill and navigate international trade policy priorities.