Trade Cases
ITC votes not to impose duties on tin mill product imports
Written by Laura Miller
February 6, 2024
At the final hour, the trade case investigating unfairly traded imports of tin mill products has been terminated.
The US International Trade Commission (ITC) voted on Tuesday, Feb. 6, to terminate the case against South Korea. The agency also voted negatively that the imports from Canada, Germany, and China are injuring the US domestic industry.
The ITC’s final vote means the trade case is ending without the imposition of duties.
The trade case was filed in January 2023 by Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. and the United Steelworkers (USW) union. The petitioners had sought antidumping duties on tin- and chromium-coated sheet steel from Canada, China, Germany, the Netherlands, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, and the UK, as well as countervailing duties against China.
The ITC heard final arguments in the case early last month.
The US Commerce Department also made its final decision in January, finding minuscule dumping rates for all countries except China. Commerce had determined the imports from China were dumped and subsidized at rates as high as 122% and 650%, respectively.
However, it is the ITC’s final injury ruling in trade cases that determines whether duties at those rates are imposed. In this case, it ruled that the imports are not harming the domestic industry.
In a statement sent to SMU, Cleveland-Cliffs said it and the USW “clearly demonstrated material injury to the domestic industry” in this case.
“Unfortunately, the International Trade Commission was unpersuaded by our arguments. While we are disappointed by today’s ITC determination, we must respect the ruling of the Commission,” Cliffs said.
The USW did not respond to a request for comment.

Laura Miller
Read more from Laura MillerLatest in Trade Cases

Leibowitz on trade: Trump’s reciprocal tariffs face mounting legal challenges
The tariffs amount to a wholesale transformation of US trade policy from one promoting increasing international interaction to one of restricting trade to serve national strategic goals.

Steel groups voice different takes on US-EU trade deal
US and European steel trade groups were at odds over their reaction to the recent trade deal President Trump brokered with the EU.

Here’s what’s up next in the big coated steel trade case
Attorneys representing domestic petitioners and foreign respondent companies have been busy filing case briefings and making rebuttals as the corrosion-resistant steel unfair trade investigations begin to wind down.

Price: Which countries get a ‘zonk’ in Trump’s primetime ‘Let’s Make a (Trade) Deal’ show?
As the president’s August 1 tariff deadline approaches, the “Let’s Make a Deal” game show returns to primetime (the Monty Hall version, of course). As the administration begins rolling out trade deals, we are starting to see what’s behind door number one and who is getting a “zonk.”

Trump says Canada deal might not happen: Report
President Trump said a negotiated deal with Canada might not occur, and all existing tariffs, along with those set to take effect soon, will stay in place, according to media reports.