U.S. imports of Tinned Iron or Steel Waste & Scrap (SITC 28231) totaled $3.4M in August 2026, imported from 3 countries.
Importers of Tinned Iron or Steel Waste & Scrap paid $325 in duties in August 2026, an average duty rate of 0.01% — duty actually collected as a share of the imports that cleared customs, not the published tariff schedule.
Last updated: August 2026 dataTinplate scrap — iron or steel coated with a thin layer of tin — is a distinct ferrous secondary material generated primarily from food and beverage can manufacturing and processing. The tin coating, while present in small quantities, must be accounted for in steelmaking charge calculations and can affect slag chemistry, which is why tinned scrap is classified and traded separately from uncoated ferrous grades. Detinning operations may process this material to recover both the tin and the underlying steel substrate as separate commodities.
AI-written summary of the official U.S. Census Bureau trade figures on this page — verify before relying on it.
311 import shipments a month
The tin coating — even at very thin gauge — introduces tin into the steel melt, which can embrittle certain steel grades if present above trace levels. Steelmakers and scrap processors therefore segregate tinned scrap to control melt chemistry, and customs classification reflects this metallurgical distinction.
Imported tinned scrap can be charged directly into electric arc furnaces where tin levels are tolerable, or it can be routed to detinning facilities that use chemical or electrolytic processes to strip the tin for separate sale, yielding both a tin product and clean steel scrap.
Basic heading 100 of 239 in section 2
Basic heading 28231 · $3.4M of $3.8B
Trade Directory
List your company and tag the 6-digit products you trade, so the companies trading them can find you. Be the first supplier listed.
Imports · August 2026
origin
Canada and Mexico together supply 100% of it.
customs district
Census does not publish district detail for this classification system.
destination
Census does not publish state detail for this classification system.
entry
Census does not publish port detail for this classification system.
ImportsExports
Imports
$3.4MYoY · free account
Exports
$3.1MYoY · free account
12-mo low · imports
Low · free accountOver the twelve months to August 2026, the U.S. imported $35.1M of Tinned Iron or Steel Waste & Scrap and exported $39.4M.
Through August 2026. Source: U.S. Census Bureau.