Del Monte Foods Shutters Modesto Cannery, Cutting 1,500 Jobs as 50% Steel Tariffs Raise Can Costs
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jun 5
Del Monte Foods Shutters Modesto Cannery, Cutting 1,500 Jobs as 50% Steel Tariffs Raise Can Costs
2 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jun 5
Summary
Del Monte Foods is closing its Modesto, California, fruit cannery, eliminating 600 full-time jobs and 800 to 900 seasonal positions.
A union representative tied the shutdown to tariffs on imported tinplate steel, saying higher can costs made U.S.-packed fruit less competitive against imported peaches already canned abroad.
Tinplate tariffs first imposed at 25% in 2018 rose to 50% last June, even as U.S. can makers now import about 70% of their tinplate, up from 42% eight years earlier.
Those costs have pushed canned fruit and vegetable prices up about 40% in recent years, with can expenses accounting for roughly one-third of wholesale prices.
The closure underscores a broader risk that tariffs meant to support domestic industry are instead lifting grocery bills, encouraging more than 2 billion imported pre-filled cans, and costing U.S. food-manufacturing jobs.