The Consumer Brands Association says implementing proposed tariffs of up to 300% on tinplate steel imports would increase the cost of canned foods and products by up to 30%.
The association released two studies on the proposal, which threaten nearly 40,000 union and non-union manufacturing jobs.
The economic impact studies bolster Consumer Brands’ efforts to urge the Department of Commerce and International Trade Commission to deny a petition submitted by steel conglomerate Cleveland-Cliffs to impose tariffs of up to 300% on imported tinplate steel from eight countries.
Because tinplate is used in hundreds of canned goods, everything from soup to shaving cream, imposing the requested tariffs would raise production costs for U.S. can manufacturers and trigger price hikes for every consumer, as supported by the research.
According to the research, the proposed tariffs will increase the cost of canned foods and products by up to 58 cents per product.
