Poll indicates majority of Americans connect rising grocery costs with steel tariffs

Eighty-seven percent of voters, including 82 percent of people who voted for President Donald Trump, are concerned about the cost of groceries, with half of the voters surveyed characterizing groceries as very or extremely expensive, while nearly 3 in 4 parents say their monthly grocery bill has increased in the past three months, according to a new poll commissioned by the Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) and conducted by RealClear Opinion Research.

The Trump administration increased the Section 232 tariffs on tinplate steel used to make food cans from 25 percent to 50 percent in June, and the poll shows that Americans understand the connection between these tariffs and increased food costs, with 70 percent of Trump voters agreeing that tariffs on materials like tinplate steel are making groceries more expensive.

Tinplate steel is a specialized product, and its production makes up less than 1 percent of total steel production worldwide, CMI says. Nearly 80 percent of tinplate for domestic can manufacturing is imported.

“Tariffs on tinplate steel have real and unintended consequence for U.S. can manufacturers, farmers, food producers and millions of American families that rely on canned goods,” says Scott Breen, president of the CMI, Washington. “Targeted tariff relief on steel used for packaging is an opportunity for the Trump administration to address rising food costs, limit foreign imports of canned foods, provide relief to U.S. farmers and protect thousands of U.S. manufacturing jobs. This is a narrow adjustment to trade policy that puts America first.”

The RealClear Opinion Research poll found that 72 percent of voters, including 71 percent of Trump voters, support a tariff exemption on tinplate steel. 

“The Trump Administration is rightfully using tariffs to stimulate domestic production, but data shows tariffs do not lead to investments in tinplate,” Breen says. “Since President Trump put in place Section 232 tariffs on steel in 2018, nine of 12 U.S. tinplate lines have stopped running, leaving steel can manufacturers no choice but to import from trade allies like Canada, the European Union and United Kingdom. There has been no payoff for the higher costs for canned goods that tariffs on tinplate are creating since U.S. steel companies have only announced investments in higher volume steel products. Targeted and immediate tariff relief for tinplate would be a significant win for American consumers, farmers, food producers and can manufacturers.”

The poll also shows that 90 percent of Americans believe it is critical that the U.S. grows its own food rather than relying on foreign imports, including competitors such as China. Metal tariffs increase the cost to make food cans in the United States, giving foreign competitors an advantage, with most of the 1.7 billion imported cans of food being cheaper, and nearly 25 percent of those food cans coming from China.

 RealClear Opinion Research’s poll revealed a number of other findings:

• Ninety-eight percent of Trump voters find it important that the U.S. grows and produces its own food, including canned foods, rather than relying on foreign imports.
• Eighty percent of Americans are concerned that the U.S. is becoming increasingly dependent on China and other countries that produce canned foods at a low cost.
• Sixty percent of voters do not trust the safety of food products grown and made in China, while 91 percent of voters trust the safety of products grown in the United States by U.S. farmers and made in the U.S.
• Fifty-nine percent of voters, including 71 percent of Trump voters, say a canned food item being from China makes them less likely to buy the product.