The United States announced additional tariffs on February 24, 2023, including:

1. A 200% tariff is imposed on certain aluminum products and aluminum derivative products originating in Russia and third countries;

2. Imposing non-MFN tariffs of up to 70% on certain Russian-origin aluminum products and other metals, including copper, lead and nickel.

The LME has announced an immediate suspension of the registration of new warehouse receipts for Russian primary aluminium, copper, lead, nickel or aluminum alloys (in the form of NASAAC) at LME warehouses located in the US.

The U.S. is now much less reliant on Russian aluminum than it was a few years ago, meaning that if punitive tariffs were to be imposed, there would be no rebound in the domestic market like in 2018. In 2016 and 2017, Russia's unwrought aluminum imports reached a peak of more than 700,000 tons, accounting for about 30% of total imports. According to the International Trade Center (ITC), the sanctions scare in 2018 led to a structural decline in Russian aluminum imports, falling to 215,000 tons in 2021, accounting for only 12% of total imports. 

Russian imports fell again last year after the U.S. stripped Russia of its most-favored-nation status, meaning additional import duties were imposed on top of the Trump-era 10 percent tariff. The scale of the tariffs amounts to a de facto ban on Russian metals, cutting off any remaining flow of unwrought aluminum or aluminum products. The unilateral move by the US to shut out Russian aluminum will hasten the fragmentation of the once highly globalized market.