US trade panel strikes down dumping duties on food can steel imports

The U.S. International Trade Commission on Tuesday voted to strike down anti-dumping duties on tin mill steel used in food cans from Canada, China, Germany and South Korea, finding that these imports do not injure domestic steelmakers. Tin mill imports from producers in China, South Korea, Taiwan and Turkey remain subject to the 25% U.S.

The U.S. International Trade Commission on Tuesday voted to strike down anti-dumping duties on tin mill steel used in food cans from Canada, China, Germany and South Korea, finding that these imports do not injure domestic steelmakers. The independent panel in a statement said it also voted to terminate the tin mill steel anti-dumping duty investigation for South Korea.

The vote overturns the Commerce Department's imposition of anti-dumping duties of 2.69% to 6.88% on tin mill steel -- the shiny silver metal widely used in cans for such items as food, paint and aerosol products -- from South Korea, Germany and Canada. For Chinese imports, it also revokes anti-dumping duties of 122.5% and anti-subsidy duties on tin mill imports. The decision deals a blow to the second-largest U.S. steelmaker, Cleveland-Cliffs, and the United Steelworkers union, which petitioned the Commerce Department last year for double- and triple-digit duties, alleging dumping below fair market value.

The petition had included tin mill steel from the Netherlands, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, but the Commerce Department's investigation did not impose duties on these suppliers. The Can Manufacturers Institute lauded the USITC vote as substantiating its view that the Cleveland-Cliffs petition "is completely unfounded."

The trade group said that domestic steelmakers have not been able to supply the volumes required by can manufacturers, especially for high-grade tin mill steel used in two-piece cans, forcing them to rely on imports. Tin mill imports from producers in China, South Korea, Taiwan and Turkey remain subject to the 25% U.S. "Section 232" steel tariffs imposed by former president Donald Trump in 2018. North American, European and UK producers are subject to tariff-rate quota arrangements.

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