The United States Dept. of Commerce believes steel producers from three foreign countries sold tinplate products at unfairly low prices, undercutting U.S. manufacturers. Now, in order to protect these domestic industries, they are proposing anti-dumping duties on tin mill imports from Canada, China and Germany.
Unions have complained to the Department that the cheap imports were hurting the industry as well as domestic jobs.
However, according to trade groups representing companies like Campbell Soup Company and Del-Monte Foods, the new tariffs could raise the prices of canned foods by as much as 30 percent if they are applied.
The new import rates, which vary from country to country, are preliminary. That is until a final decision is made around January. Right now, the rates for each country are:
- China —122.52%
- Germany — 7.02%
- Canada — 5.29%
