Lol Marty..good metaphor

Tony.... Aluminum is smelted. It is NOT a naturally occurring substance. Yes, Bauxite definirely exists in and among the most common "sedimentary rock" structures, but not all sedimentary rock contains Bauxite.
Australia, Guinea, and China have by far the most. Brazil is fourth, India 5th...then it drops off significantly

The US does not come close to having the kinds of reserves it needs nor does it have an abundance of cheap power required for smelting.

And yes, India is the world 5t largest source of Bauxite....so by all means, trade for it with them.

Then build the infrastructure you need to smelt it...hook it up to your power grid...and have at it. You will only succeed in propping up an economically inefficient industry.

We have no bauxite of our own. I comes primarily from Brazil. But Quebec has an abundance of cheap power.

So we will continue as low cost producers and sell elsewhere...let them take advantage of our lower prices to manufacture goods cheaper

If writing ever becomes work I think I'm going to have to stop