Commerce Preliminary Determination on Tin Mill Products

The. Department of Commerce has announced that imports of tin mill products from the People’s Republic of China, Canada, and Germany are being unfairly priced, i.e., dumped, into the U.S. market as part of its antidumping duty (AD) investigations.  Commerce also preliminarily finds that imports from the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United Kingdom are not being dumped.  

This represents a modest win for petitioner Cleveland Cliffs, which has enjoyed an increasing market share and pricing power as domestic competitors have either shuttered or been rolled into Cliff's operations..

On January 18, 2023, Cleveland Cliffs, Inc., along with the United Steelworkers  Union, filed a petition with the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration (ITA), and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) to impose antidumping duties on tin mill products imported into the U.S. from certain countries.   

U.S. can manufacturers and food processors depend on imports.  Can manufacturing industry sources estimate that 62 percent of tin mill products used in 2022 was imported.   Currently, there are three manufacturers of tin mill products in the U.S.: Cleveland Cliffs, U.S. Steel, and Ohio Coatings.  Cleveland Cliffs has announced its interest in acquiring US Steel.

According to the Consumer Brands Association, U.S. steel manufacturers do not produce tin mill products in sufficient quantity nor of the specifications needed, and the imposition of anti-dumping duties would result in a 19 to 30 percent increase in canned food costs.

Commerce determined the following preliminary dumping rates: