Canada slams US antidumping duty on tin mill products, citing trade concerns

The United States Department of Commerce Friday announced measures to curb dumping of tin mill products from several countries including Canada in a move Ottawa criticized as “disappointing” and a blow to bilateral trade.

For Canada, the determinations on anti-dumping and countervailing duties place a 5.27% duty rate on U.S. imports, a 0.02% reduction from preliminary duties set last year. In 2022, the tin mill imports from Canada were worth US$463.6 million including from ArcelorMittal Dofasco, the country’s largest producer of flat-rolled steel. 

“These duties not only weaken supply chains between Canada and the U.S. but also worsen the impacts of inflation on both sides of the border,” Canada’s Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development Minister Mary Ng said in a statement Friday.

China, Germany, South Korea, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Turkey and the United Kingdom will also be slapped with duties. It marks a victory for Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE: CLF) and the United Steelworkers union, who jointly filed the trade case a year ago. It led to a series of investigations and preliminary determinations throughout 2022. They argued a surge of cheap, subsidized tin mill product imports from countries harmed its industry by undercutting local prices and violating fair trade practices.

The commerce department’s International Trade Commission is expected to make a final decision on Feb. 20, with orders to follow a week later.

Tin can battle

Tin mill products refer to flat-rolled steel coated with tin or chrome for corrosion resistance. They are commonly used in the packaging industry for making cans, containers and other applications requiring corrosion-resistant material. The U.S. imported 251,023 tonnes of tin products from Canada in 2022, according to the Department of Commerce. 

Ohio-based Cleveland-Cliffs, the biggest fully integrated iron ore miner and steel producer in the U.S., welcomed the decision.

“With the heightened levels of both geopolitical uncertainty and supply chain disruptions in the world, we continue to expect disturbances in international trade,” chair, president and CEO Laurenco Goncalves said in a statement. “Today’s outcome should put importers on notice that the United States will not tolerate unfair trade that harms employers, workers and communities.”

The measures are part of a broader trade enforcement initiative by the Department of Commerce. It currently maintains 676 anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders to shield American businesses from what it perceives as unfair international trade practices.

China faced more stringent measures, with a 122.5% dumping rate for a ‘China-wide entity’ and adjusted cash deposit rates. The U.S. slapped Germany’s exporters including Thyssenkrupp Rasselstein with a rate of 6.8%. Korean exporters saw varied rates, with KG Dongbu Steel at 0% on the low end, and TCC Steel Corp. at 2.69% on the high end and the standard for all Korean companies.

China also attracted substantial rates to combat subsidies, with Baoshan Iron & Steel Co. facing a stunning 649.98% and Shougang Jingtang United Iron & Steel Co. at 331.88%.