Maui Land & Pine
gets tariff relief

Imported pineapple cans will be
exempted from U.S. duty on steel

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By Dave Segal
dsegal@starbulletin.com

Maui Land & Pineapple Co.'s request for a steel tariff exemption has been granted.

The company, which stood to pay an additional $300,000 this year and an extra $1.2 million in 2003 without the waiver, welcomed yesterday's news that the imported steel used to make its pineapple cans had made the updated exemption list.

The exemption for tin-plated steel, one of 116 additional waivers that the U.S. Commerce Department and the U.S. Trade Representative announced yesterday, means that cans used by the company's subsidiary, Maui Pineapple Co. Ltd., are now fully exempted.

In March, the company received partial relief when lithographed thin-plated steel, which is used to make the can's lid, was granted an exemption. That material was considered a different category of material than the rest of the can because it is lithographed with the 100 percent Hawaiian logo on it.

Maui Land & Pineapple's need for an exemption had received congressional support in a Feb. 7 letter from Hawaii U.S. senators Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka and U.S. Reps. Patsy Mink and Neil Abercrombie.

The company, which operates the state's last remaining pineapple cannery, had argued that it had been unable to get the steel products it needs domestically and depended on Japan for its supply.

In March, President Bush imposed steel tariffs ranging up to 30 percent to protect the struggling U.S. steel industry from a flood of imports that has seen more than 30 companies file for bankruptcy since 1997.

"This decision is a win for Hawaii's economy," Abercrombie said. "It recognizes the special situation of Maui Pine and their dependence on imported tin plate steel. We made a concerted effort to win this exemption, and I'm very pleased that we succeeded."

The Bush administration, which has now granted 224 exemptions, had set a July 3 deadline for decisions on its initial group of exemption requests.

The tariffs have angered more than a dozen nations, with some threatening to impose retaliatory sanctions on U.S. products. Japan, South Korea, and the European Union have asked the World Trade Organization to rule the tariffs illegal.