Five days after it expressed tentative praise for President Donald Trump's decision to impose tariffs on aluminum imports, the Aluminum Association has issued another statement condemning the proposal as overly broad.

In a March 6 letter to Trump, Aluminum Association CEO Heidi Brock said that while her industry was grateful for the attention, "we are deeply concerned about the effects of a global tariff on aluminum production and jobs in the United States."

Trump proposed last week to place a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports and a 25 percent tariff on imported steel. At the time, the Aluminum Association issued a statement praising "the president's commitment to strengthening the U.S. aluminum industry."

"We look forward to working with the president on implementation and to creating a more level playing field," the group added.

However, a wide range of U.S-based industries—from beer brewers to automobile manufacturers—have said the tariffs would increase the prices of their products and make them less competitive in global markets. Several countries have also pledged to retaliate with tariffs of their own, potentially sparking a trade war.

In the letter, Brock said the tariffs need to be more narrowly targeted at China, which U.S.-based aluminum producers have accused of unfairly subsidizing its aluminum industry. A U.S. Department of Commerce report released in February reached the same conclusion, claiming the country was dumping aluminum into U.S. markets below fair value. http://reut.rs/2FpoQDb

"Unfortunately, the tariffs proposed will do little to address the fundamental problem of massive aluminum overcapacity in China, while impacting supply chains with vital trading partners who play by the rules," Brock said. "We fear that the proposed tariff may do more harm than good, hurting rather than helping the 97 percent of aluminum industry jobs in mid-and-downstream production processes."

The association noted there are no existing unfair trade orders on imports of aluminum or aluminum products from any other U.S. trading partners. http://bit.ly/2HgYq6V

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