In an effort to defend domestic steelmakers, the U.S. Commerce Department announced on Thursday that it will impose preliminary anti-dumping duties on tin-plated steel from Canada, Germany, and China. This will result in warnings of higher prices for cans made from steel as well as the foods, paint, and other products they contain.
The agency announced that it will seek initial anti-dumping charges of 122.5% on imports of tin mill steel from China, 7.0% from Germany, and 5.2% from Canada. Later on Thursday, a formal Federal Register notification is anticipated.
The steel, which is imported from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, South Korea, Taiwan, and Turkey and used in cans for food, paint, aerosol goods, and other containers, won’t be subject to taxes, Commerce said.
The widely watched case began in February after Cleveland-Cliffs, a single U.S. steelmaker, filed a petition alleging foreign dumping in the tin-plate industry, which has seen many U.S. production plants close recently.
As part of a separate, parallel inquiry, the Commerce Department in June slapped preliminary anti-subsidy penalties of 543% on tin mill imports from Baoshan Iron and Steel, China’s largest steelmaker, and 89% on those from all other Chinese companies.
The other seven countries cited in Thursday’s decision were not subject to anti-subsidy investigations.
