The US Commerce Department said on August 17 that it would impose preliminary anti-dumping duties on tinplate steel imports from Canada, Germany and China, while dropping dumping charges against five other countries.
The highest preliminary anti-dumping duty of 122.5% will be imposed on tinplate steel imported from China, including Baoshan Iron and Steel, the country's largest steelmaker, the ministry said.
German and Canadian importers will be subject to much lower preliminary tariffs of 7.02% and 5.29%, respectively.
Additionally, the Commerce Department will not impose tariffs on shiny silver metal — widely used in food cans, paints, aerosol products and other containers — imported from the UK, the Netherlands, South Korea, Taiwan (China) and Turkey.
The new US move stems from a complaint filed by Cleveland-Cliffs, a US steelmaker, in February, alleging that foreign companies were dumping tinplate products, harming US steelmakers and jobs. The US Department of Commerce and the US International Trade Commission immediately launched an investigation to verify the allegations.
Workers at a factory of Baoshan Iron & Steel Company (China's largest steel producer), in Baoshan District, Shanghai, China. Photo: Bloomberg
Manufacturers in the three countries were found to be selling tinplate at prices below those in their domestic markets, a US Commerce Department official said.
She also added that the high tariffs on China were determined through a “deep investigation of the facts”, unaffected by the economic rivalry between Washington and Beijing.
The proposed tariffs are also significantly lower than those proposed by Cleveland-Cliffs, which had requested tariffs of 79.6 percent on imports from Canada, 70.2 percent on Germany, 111.92 percent on the UK, 110.5 percent on South Korea, 296 percent on the Netherlands, 60 percent on Taiwan, and 97.2 percent on Turkey.
The five countries that escaped tariffs accounted for about half of the steel imported by US tin mills, while China accounted for about 14%, and Canada and Germany accounted for about 30%, the US Commerce Department official said.
According to the Can Manufacturers Institute, US steelmakers produce less than 50% of the tin needed for domestic can manufacturing, so any new import tariffs would lead to higher raw material costs and food prices at a time when inflation remains high.
The new tariffs, if fully implemented after a final ruling in January 2024, could increase the price of canned foods by up to 30% , according to estimates from the Consumer Brands Association of America.
Nguyen Tuyet (According to Reuters, WSJ)
Source
Comment (0)