U.S. Imposes Tariffs on Japanese Tin Plate

The International Trade Commission imposed duties of as much as 95.29% on Japanese exports of tin plate, the kind of steel used to make aerosol, food and beer cans. The punitive duty represents the amount the Commerce Department determined was the difference between the price Japanese exporters were charging customers in the United States and the price they were charging in Japan for the same type of steel. The Japanese steel industry expressed bewilderment that the ITC, a U.S. government body, was not convinced by steel buyers who said imports of the Japanese steel did not influence prices. Weirton Steel Corp., which filed the trade case along with the Independent Steelworkers Union and the United Steel Workers of America, praised the ITC’s action, which is expected to result in drastic reductions in the amount of Japanese tin plate entering the U.S. steel market. The 95.29% tariffs will be imposed on imports from Nippon Steel Corp., Kawasaki Steel Corp., NKK Corp. and Toyo Kohan. The import tax on other Japanese manufacturers will be 32.52%.