Tariffs of up to 330% to be imposed on tin mill products

The United States Department of Commerce will impose tariffs on tin mill products after a surge hurt American steelmakers, leading U.S. Steel to idle its tin operations at Gary Works.

It will impose tariffs of between 2.69% and 331.88% on steelmakers from Canada, Germany, Korea and China.

The United Steelworkers union, Cleveland-Cliffs and other steelmakers pursued antidumping and countervailing duties in a trade case, arguing that foreign companies were illegally selling subsidized tin mill products and dumping them below-cost in the United States for less than their fair trade values.

“Today’s announcement is yet further evidence that domestic companies and workers in the domestic tin mill industry have been subject to unfair, illegal trade practices. I wish to express appreciation to the Department of Commerce for its diligent investigation," Cleveland-Cliffs’ Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said. "Cleveland-Cliffs will continue to work closely with the USW to advocate for an affirmative final injury determination by the International Trade Commission, which will allow us to correct the rampant unfair trade in the tin mill products industry.”

They filed a trade case in January 2023. The U.S. Department of Commerce conducted a yearlong investigation before determining Canada, Germany, Korea and China all dumped tin mill products in the United States. It imposed tariff rates on top of the existing Section 232 tariffs and quotas designed to offset subsidies or prices below market value.

“With the heightened levels of both geopolitical uncertainty and supply chain disruptions in the world, we continue to expect disturbances in international trade," Goncalves said. "Today’s outcome should put importers on notice that the United States will not tolerate unfair trade that harms employers, workers and communities.”

U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, D-Highland, had testified on behalf of the tariffs.

"The illegal dumping and subsidization of tin mill products has already had a detrimental impact on workers in Northwest Indiana. Specifically, U.S. Steel idled its East Chicago tin finishing plant in 2019, which employed more than 360 workers, and in December 2022, the company idled its tin mill operations at the Gary Works facility, displacing another 244 workers," he testified at the hearing. "Today, hot-rolled steel made by our incredible union workers at Cleveland Cliffs’ integrated steel plants in Northwest Indiana are sent to their facility in Weirton, West Virginia, to produce tin and chromium coated sheet steel products. I would highlight that from 2020 to 2022, tin mill imports from countries under discussion today, including China, Canada, and Germany, increased by more than 25 percent, which prompted the loss of an additional 300 American workers in June 2023."

The U.S. Department of Commerce found that Germany, the Netherlands, Taiwan and Turkey had not been engaged in steel dumping.