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It isn’t often the head of a U.S. trade group lauds the implementation of tariffs by another country. But that’s just what Charles Johnson of the Aluminum Association did last week.

The Mexican government announced increased border tariffs on hundreds of products, including aluminum and aluminum-containing goods. Johnson said the decision is an important first step to tighten aluminum trade enforcement in North America while remaining consistent with the commitments made in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

“While we continue to assess how these tariffs might impact regional trade flows, we look forward to further aligning the action with the United States’ Section 232 aluminum tariff regime. A coordinated regional strategy will better insulate North America from heavily state subsidized and illegally traded metal from China, as well as more recently discounted Russian metal,” Johnson said.

Johnson encouraged Mexico and the other North American governments to ramp up trade monitoring systems to readily identify transshipped and other unfairly traded aluminum. He also expressed some concerns about duty forgiveness programs, which could undermine the impact of the Mexican tariffs.

“We will work with the U.S. and Mexican governments to ensure that these new tariffs are constructed and enforced in a smart, targeted and efficient way so that they do not negatively impact valued trading partners,” Johnson said.