Cleveland-Cliffs to shutter West Virginia tin plant and lay off 900 after tariff ruling
Cleveland-Cliffs is shutting down a northern West Virginia tin production facility indefinitely and plans to lay off 900 workers
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Cleveland-Cliffs announced Thursday that it is shutting down a northern West Virginia tin production facility indefinitely and plans to lay off 900 workers after the International Trade Commission voted against imposing tariffs on tin imports.
The trade commission ruled earlier this year that no anti-dumping and countervailing duties will be imposed on tin products from Canada, China and Germany because those imports do not sufficiently harm the U.S. steel industry. The U.S. Department of Commerce had determined those products were sold in the United States at less than fair value and subsidized by the Chinese government.
The trade commission also voted to stop a duty investigation into tin products shipped from South Korea.
Anti-dumping and countervailing duties are levied against foreign governments that subsidize products so they can be sold below cost.
Cleveland-Cliffs said it will offer either severance packages or opportunities for workers in Weirton to be relocated to its other facilities. The Cleveland-based company employs 28,000 workers in the United States and Canada.
Weirton is a city of 19,000 residents along the Ohio River about 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of Pittsburgh.
Cleveland-Cliffs Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said the company and the United Steelworkers union “fought tirelessly” to keep the Weirton plant open.
“In what was our final effort to maintain tinplate production here in America, we proved that we are forced to operate on an uneven playing field, and that the deck was stacked in favor of the importers,” Goncalves said in
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