The Consumer Brands Association issued a statement in response to the International Trade Commission’s (ITC) unanimous decision not to impose duties on imported tin mill.

The ITC determined that a U.S. industry is not materially injured or threatened with material injury by reason of imports of tin mill products from Canada, China, and Germany that the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) has determined are sold in the United States at less than fair value and subsidised by the Government of China. 

The Commission further found that the imports of these products from South Korea that Commerce has determined are sold in the United States at less than fair value are negligible and voted to terminate the antidumping duty investigation concerning South Korea.

President & CEO of Consumer Brands, David Chavern, said: “The Consumer Brands-led effort has resulted in a true victory for U.S. consumers and manufacturers with the International Trade Commission’s unanimous vote to reject new tariffs on tin mill steel.

“The 0 – 4 vote against the tariffs, combined with the Department of Commerce’s final duty determination in January, is a complete repudiation of a petition brought by steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs. If the tariffs had been imposed at the levels requested by Cleveland-Cliffs, nearly 40,000 manufacturing jobs would have been put at risk, with consumer prices for canned goods soaring up to 30 percent.

“Today’s result confirms what we’ve known all along – there was no merit to Cleveland-Cliffs’ claims. The ITC not only voted today to protect thousands of American manufacturing jobs, but to preserve the integrity of our country’s trade remedy process.

“The unanimous decision means that no antidumping or countervailing duty orders will be applied on any countries in the case. The ITC voted negative for Canada, China and Germany, and the investigation against South Korea was terminated because the volume of subject imports was negligible. Commerce previously issued negative duty levels for Taiwan, Turkey, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

“We appreciate the Biden administration’s rigorous analysis of the facts in this case. Tin mill steel is critical to ensuring the safety and quality of canned products millions of Americans rely on every day.

“America’s food, beverage, household and personal care manufacturers are committed to working with the administration to keep jobs in America, protect the competitiveness of American manufacturing and work toward solutions that address supply chain and business issues impacting the cost of everyday essential products.”