Commerce Department Sets Tin Mill Tariffs for Food Cans

On August 17, the Department of Commerce announced its preliminary determinations in the antidumping duty (AD) investigations of tin mill products from Canada, the People’s Republic of China (China), Germany, the Republic of Korea (Korea), The Netherlands, Taiwan, the Republic of Turkey (Turkey), and the United Kingdom.

While the Department of Commerce set preliminary tariffs of over 120% on tin-plated steel products from China, the government found no evidence of less-than-fair-market-value steel coming from The Netherlands, Taiwan, South Korea, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.

The Consumer Brands Association published the following statement after the preliminary determinations were published:

“The Biden administration's analysis correctly shows zero evidence of less-than-fair-market-value steel coming from five countries: The Netherlands, Taiwan, South Korea, Turkey and the United Kingdom. The extremely low preliminary duty rates on Canada (7.02 percent) and Germany (5.29 percent) further confirms that there is no merit to dumping claims and should lead the International Trade Commission to a no-injury determination. As it finalizes its investigation, Commerce should further scrutinize its analysis and confirm that there is no reason to justify even these marginal tariffs on Canada and Germany.

“As the Biden administration continues its investigation, it’s imperative that Commerce and the International Trade Commission remain resolute in its efforts to protect all U.S. manufacturers and consumers, and to continue its fair and equitable execution of worker-centered trade policy.”

Only 2% of steel produced domestically is tin-plated and domestic manufacturers can only satisfy 58.8% of demand, according to the American Fruit & Vegetable Processors & Growers Coalition. With 40% of the cost of a can of vegetable being the tin-plated can itself, these tariffs hit the consumers most dependent on affordable, shelf-stable fruits and vegetables. In fact, year-on-year inflation for canned fruits and vegetables is 7% - significantly higher than the 1% inflation rate for fresh fruits and vegetables and the 4% general food inflation rate.

You can find the Commerce Department's preliminary determinations in a table below:

This matter is certainly not resolved. While these preliminary AD determinations were made on August 16 and published August 17, all country AD determinations will be finalized on January 8, 2024. In addition, Commerce announced that final AD determinations for China would be October 30, 2023, while the International Trade Commission (ITC) would have a separate China-specific determination due December 14, 2023. Should Commerce and the ITC both arrive at affirmative country-specific determinations for China, that order is required to be issued by December 21, 2023.