U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to President Joe Biden, urging him to use the Defense Production Act to prevent the shutdown of Magnitude 7 Metals—an aluminum manufacturer in Marston, Mo., that accounts for nearly 30 percent of the nation’s primary aluminum production. Senator Hawley warned that the closure of Magnitude 7 Metals would deliver a devastating blow to working families in Missouri and undermine U.S. national security.
“Magnitude 7 Metals’ ‘curtailment’ of its aluminum smelter will put more than 500 workers out of a job by Sunday, January 28, 2024,” wrote Senator Hawley. “The impending shutdown of the smelter will also materially degrade our defense posture, as the Department of Defense has deemed aluminum a strategic material of interest.”
He continued, “As recently as 2000, the United States ranked as the world’s largest producer of primary aluminum. However, the United States now accounts for less than 2 percent of global primary aluminum production. This steep decline in production results from several factors, including state-led overproduction in China that has led Chinese aluminum manufacturers to dump subsidized aluminum into global markets, thereby depressing the commodity’s price and undermining U.S. manufacturers’ financial viability.”
“To this end, I urge you to take all appropriate actions, including the invocation of the Defense Production Act of 1950, to prevent the shutdown of Magnitude 7 Metals. Doing so will preserve good-paying union jobs and safeguard national security,” Senator Hawley concluded.
Read the full letter by clicking or tapping here.
