By Josh Zumbrun and Alex Leary

Just a little over a month after implementing the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement designed to lower trade barriers across North America, the Trump administration has decided to reimpose tariffs on Canadian aluminum.

"Earlier today I signed a proclamation that defends American industry by reimposing aluminum tariffs on Canada," President Trump said during a speech at a Whirlpool factory in Clyde, Ohio. "Canada was taking advantage of us, as usual," he said. "The aluminum business was being decimated by Canada, very unfair to our jobs and our great aluminum workers."

Major business groups criticized the president's decision.

"These tariffs will raise costs for American manufacturers, are opposed by most U.S. aluminum producers, and will draw retaliation against U.S. exports -- just as they did before," said Myron Brilliant, executive vice president and head of international affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "We urge the administration to reconsider this move."

Jim McGreevy, the president of the Beer Institute, which represents American beermakers, said the tariffs were a mistake:

"The United States imports more primary aluminum from Canada than from any other country, making Canada a key player in many American manufacturing processes, including the beer supply chain," Mr. McGreevy said, adding that the beverage industry alone had paid $582 million in tariffs since they first took effect in 2018. "We strongly oppose the decision to re-implement aluminum tariffs on one of our nation's most important allies."

The Trump administration first imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum in March of 2018, arguing that imports of steel and aluminum threatened U.S. national security. The tariffs ultimately went into effect for steel and aluminum imports from nearly every country in the world.

The tariffs emerged as a significant source of tension between the U.S. and Canada as they worked to renegotiate the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement. The tariffs had supporters in the steel industry, but were opposed by most of the aluminum industry, and by companies that use metals.

The Canadian government argued that due to its longstanding alliance with the U.S., imports of Canadian metals weren't a threat to U.S. national security.

In May of 2019, the U.S. agreed to drop the tariffs after Republican lawmakers told the White House that the new trade agreement would die in Congress if they weren't removed.

Thursday's announcement only pertained to the 10% tariff on aluminum from Canada, not the 25% tariff on steel. Mr. Trump's top trade negotiator Robert Lighthizer had told Congress in June that he was concerned by an increase of aluminum imports from Canada. The Aluminum Association sent a letter to Mr. Lighthizer, signed by 15 CEOs and senior executives across the U.S. aluminum industry, urging the administration not to reimpose tariffs.

"After all of the hard work that has gone into making the USMCA a reality, it would be a shame to move backward by reapplying tariffs or quotas on aluminum," Tom Dobbins, the Aluminum Association's president, said at the time.

In 2019, the U.S. imported about $5.8 billion of bauxite and aluminum from Canada, down from as much as $7 billion in 2017. It wasn't immediately clear from the president's announcement if all Canadian aluminum would face tariffs, or just certain categories of aluminum. The U.S.Trade Representative's office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.