Lakeside Auto Recyclers in Carter Lake, Nebraska, is poised to reclaim processing work as 25 per cent tariffs raise the cost of imported metal. Local recyclers say the aluminium levy could redirect business back to their yard, where yard manager Nick Hanson oversees a 60-strong team processing 8,000 tonnes of recycled steel each month.
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“It’s a little scary just based off what happened in 2016 and 2018 with the aluminium, it crashed drastically,” Hanson said, adding “Since then, there’s a lot more domestic options for your shredded cast aluminium. So I think it could be a positive, I really do.”
Hanson is optimistic that the tariff impositions can potentially pull in buyers to recycled materials produced within the US.
“This is part of a car engine, we shred it down, ship it out, clean-shred cast aluminium, and then it goes and it’s made into new aluminium products,” Hanson shared. “With shredded steel, same thing, it’s going to go to the steel mill, it gets melted down, made into new steel.” He suggests the tariffs could stimulate greater demand for recycled materials made in the US.
“There’s a lot more companies that are using the domestic cast aluminium to make engine blocks, heads to make engines on cars, most Ford vehicles are aluminium‑bodied, so there’s a lot more domestic demand than there was previously, it was all export before,” he added.
“I think keeping it in America, yeah, you know, American labour is a little more expensive, but at the same time logistics is expensive,” Hanson said. “I mean, getting it across the ocean, that’s expensive.”
Hanson noted that, although end‑product prices may rise, recycled material could still undercut tariffed imports. He also warned that the industry must upgrade equipment for future demand. “I think, in the next 10 to 15 years, with all the electric cars and more plastic we’re seeing, and the more aluminium that we’re seeing, we’re going to have to upgrade some equipment here,”
The 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium imports took effect on March 12, 2025, attracting a mixed reaction both on the domestic as well as international trade front.
Information source: https://www.msn.com/
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