Toolbox trade wars: How a sure winner in US dispute has yet to reap benefits

FRANKLIN PARK: Nestled in an industrial park near the end of the runway of O’Hare International Airport, Metal Box International Inc should be one of the winners of a little-known trade war over toolboxes.

In January, the US International Trade Commission ruled Chinese imports had harmed domestic producers of big tool chests sold in retail stores, prompting the Trump administration to slap anti-subsidy duties of up to 95 per cent on Chinese boxes.

That could jump far higher later this year, after the administration decides whether to add anti-dumping duties on top of the anti-subsidy charges.

“This is a game changer for us,” said Mitch Liss, one of the owners of the privately held company, who said regaining just a small slice of the Chinese business would make the factory boom.

Metal Box International is one of only two remaining US producers of such boxes. The other is Waterloo Industries, a far larger company recently acquired by Stanley Black & Decker Inc, the global tool producer.

So if retailers were going to start buying American again to avoid the mounting duties, it would almost certainly be visible at this factory.

It hasn’t worked out that way. There was a small uptick after the January ruling, Liss said, but so far no boom in orders.

— Reuters photo The glass entranceway to Metal Box International’s toolbox factory is seen in Franklin Park, Illinois.The current battle over steel and aluminium tariffs underscores the risks and complexity in trade disputes, which often pit America’s love of cheap...