About 900 American workers at a Weirton, West Virginia, company are scheduled to lose their jobs after a federal agency rejected the Department of Commerce’s request to levy tariffs on cheap imported tin from Canada, China, South Korea, and Germany.
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. officials revealed on February 15 that the business will be shutting down its tin production factory in April.
The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) – consisting of Republican David Johanson, Dem Rhonda Schmidtlein, Dem Jason Kearns, and Dem Amy Karpel, refused to permit the Commerce Department to impose tariffs on unfairly subsidized and cheap imported tin products from Canada, China, South Korea, and Germany, which led to the massive layoff.
Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves stated in a statement, “We worked extremely closely with our colleagues at the United Steelworkers (USW) on this solution to rescue Weirton, and together we battled fiercely for its survival.”
Executives from Cleveland-Cliffs and the USW requested in January 2023 that federal authorities look into low-cost tin goods that are being dumped in the American market.
The Commerce Department discovered last month that “tin mill goods from China are also being subsidized, and imports of tin mill goods from Canada, China, Germany, and the Republic of Korea are being unjustly priced, i.e., dumped, into the U.S. market.”
The Commerce Department suggested imposing duties on tin imports from Canada, China, Germany, and South Korea in order to safeguard American jobs and the country’s tin manufacturing. However, the ITC disagreed with the conclusions, claiming that such duties are not required to safeguard American workers.
In addition to being “un-American,” USW Local 2911 President Mark Glyptis told Fox Business Network that the ITC’s unwillingness to permit tariffs on low-cost, subsidized tin imports in order to protect the jobs of American workers is another issue.
“This is a complete farce. I find that to be utterly unAmerican. It’s one of the most un-American choices in history, and it will put our nation’s food economy in danger. There will be a national security concern, according to Glyptis.
“I will use every resource at my disposal to reverse this ruling. Our administration made a mistake with this decision. Not outsiders, but America and her people should be their priority.”
Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) have both criticized the ITC’s ruling, which is causing the facility to close.
Weirton’s representative, Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV), also criticized the ITC, describing it as a “globalist, Democrat-led” organization that has “sided with cheap foreign competitors” as opposed to American workers.
Mooney stated, “As a result, another American facility was shuttered.”
In truth, West Virginia has lost a great deal of employment in manufacturing and related sectors as a result of free trade policies, as American businesses cannot compete with low-cost imports. Some businesses outsource to low-wage overseas nations and have their goods imported into the United States with sometimes negligible tariffs in an attempt to reduce costs through free trade.
With the support of both Republicans and Democrats at the time, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) caused over 10,000 people in one former West Virginian steel town to lose 94% of their employment in the sector.
According to an ITC assessment from November 2022, free trade has a disastrous effect on American towns, including those in West Virginia, where the loss of jobs leads to an increase in addiction, poverty, and hopelessness.
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