John Solomon Reports

Special Report: Tin Can Crisis - Unpacking the Hidden Costs of Tariffs and Supply Chains in America - Part 1

31 min
Feb 28, 2026about 2 months ago
Listen to Episode
Summary

John Solomon investigates the "tin can crisis" — how Trump's 50% steel tariffs, while intended to revitalize domestic steel production, have created unintended consequences for American food manufacturers, farmers, and consumers. With domestic tin plate production collapsed from 12 operating lines to 3 since 2018, can makers are forced to import expensive materials, driving up prices for canned goods by 7-22% and threatening food security and affordability.

Insights
  • Steel tariffs designed to protect domestic industry are backfiring on downstream food producers because domestic tin plate capacity hasn't been rebuilt yet, creating a multi-year gap where tariffs raise costs without corresponding domestic supply
  • The issue represents a classic unintended consequence of trade policy: tariffs on steel inputs are making American-made canned goods more expensive than foreign-made alternatives, potentially shifting market share overseas and hurting domestic farmers
  • Food security and national security are intertwined — reliance on foreign canned goods raises questions about food safety standards, pesticide use, and supply chain transparency that consumers cannot verify
  • The solution requires coordination between executive (tariff relief) and legislative (investment incentives) branches to thread the needle: provide short-term relief on tin plate tariffs while simultaneously investing in domestic tin plate manufacturing capacity
  • Farmers and food processors are absorbing significant cost increases and losing pricing power to foreign competitors, creating pressure to either exit the market or shift to alternative distribution channels outside the U.S.
Trends
Unintended consequences of protectionist trade policy creating downstream inflation in consumer staplesReshoring of manufacturing capacity requires multi-year investment timelines that don't align with immediate tariff implementationFood security emerging as a national security concern, driving consumer preference for domestically-sourced and packaged goodsVertical integration and supply chain resilience becoming competitive advantages for mid-sized manufacturersGenerational farms facing margin compression from both input cost inflation and buyer pressure to absorb tariff costsForeign competitors gaining market share in U.S. food market due to tariff-induced cost disadvantages for domestic producersConsumer awareness of supply chain origins and food safety standards increasing among politically-engaged demographicsPolicy coordination challenges between tariff implementation (executive) and manufacturing investment incentives (legislative)
Companies
Can Manufacturers Institute
Trade association representing U.S. can manufacturers; Scott Breen is president and primary spokesperson on industry ...
Can Corporation of America
Third-generation family-owned can manufacturer founded 1928; Robert Gatz VP/GM discussing tariff impacts and food sec...
Red Gold
American tomato processing company facing competitive disadvantage due to higher can costs vs. foreign competitors
Quince
Clothing retailer; episode sponsor offering direct-to-consumer apparel with premium fabrics
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Mattress manufacturer; episode sponsor offering engineered sleep systems with temperature control
The Wellness Company
Health products company; episode sponsor offering immune defense and antiviral treatment kits
People
John Solomon
Host of John Solomon Reports; investigative journalist leading deep dive into tin can tariff crisis and its consumer ...
Scott Breen
President of Can Manufacturers Institute; primary industry spokesperson explaining tariff impacts on 135 billion annu...
Robert Gatz
VP and General Manager of Can Corporation of America; discusses food security risks and tariff-driven cost increases
Rebecca Litwork
Chair of Moms for America; Florida mother documenting 50-100% cost increases in canned goods for family meals
Paul Canning
Montana farmer; century-old family farm growing pulse crops for canning; experiencing 15-year price lows due to tarif...
Glenn Abbott
Indiana farmer; discusses tariff reform needs and competitive disadvantage vs. foreign canned food imports
Scott Bessent
Treasury Secretary; signaled administration considering targeted tariff relief for tin plate in narrow markets
Donald Trump
President; implemented 50% steel tariffs; ultimate decision-maker on potential tin plate tariff relief
Kristi Noem
Secretary of Homeland Security; stated food security is national security in context of foreign food imports
Ron Johnson
U.S. Senator; scheduled to appear on Sunday episode to discuss legislative solutions to tin plate crisis
Tom Tiffany
U.S. Congressman; scheduled to appear on Sunday episode to discuss legislative solutions to tin plate crisis
Tom McClinton
U.S. Congressman; scheduled to appear on Sunday episode to discuss legislative solutions to tin plate crisis
Quotes
"Without that steel can, my crops are useless if they have to stay in the field. And that can is the bridge between my farm and the American pantry. And when that bridge becomes too expensive, then farmers lose, American consumers lose and grocery bills get too high."
Paul Canning, Montana farmerFinal segment
"We make 135 billion metal cans every year in the United States. With a B. And every minute, we're making a quarter million."
Scott Breen, Can Manufacturers InstituteIndustry segment
"The farmer is kind of the end user, and therefore we kind of get stuck with the added cost. And unfortunately, the added cost puts us out of reach for global competition."
Glenn Abbott, Indiana farmerFarmer segment
"What once was $20 and under pot of American chili is not that anymore. It's more around $30 to $35, sometimes $40. But it seems very silly when we're talking about canned tomatoes and canned beans."
Rebecca Litwork, Moms for AmericaConsumer impact segment
"Let's modify it so that we do America first across the American value chain. Yes, we stimulate domestic tin plate in the best way. But let's also make sure that our American farmers, our American can manufacturers are winning."
Scott Breen, Can Manufacturers InstituteSolution discussion
Full Transcript
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And I noticed the difference right away when I got my ghost bed. I didn't wake up stiff. I didn't toss and turn. I didn't sleep hot. In fact, the temperature adjusted to my body. I didn't think that was possible, but it did. I didn't even have to reach for a pain reliever because I was already relaxed. Now, when you have those conditions, it's not aging. It could very well be that your mattress is talking to you. And here's another thing I love about GhostBed. You get 101 nights to try it at home. If you don't feel the difference, you can send it back risk-free. GhostBed is offering my audience their lowest prices of the year, plus an extra 10% off. Change your sleeping forever. Go to ghostbed.com slash justnews and use my promo code justnews. That's ghostbed.com slash justnews. Use the promo code justnews. Hello, American. Happy Saturday. Welcome to the latest edition of John Solomon Reports, the podcast from Just the News. We have a tin can crisis in America. For the next two days, I'm going to do a deep dive on this. I know it sounds kind of wonky, seems kind of narrow. Why are you doing this, John? You're going to understand when I describe to you why I'm diving into this issue. This is ultimately a kitchen table issue, but we haven't thought about it. You probably never thought about it. You probably never even heard of it. A metal called tin plate, but you use it every day in your kitchen, at your dinner table, at your grill. Every time you open up a soup can or a can of vegetables, that can is most likely made of tin plate. And for decades, we made that metal right here in the good old USA. And today we still make the cans right here in the heartland of the USA in places like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin. But we have a problem. Because of unfair foreign competition and internal blue state regulations, America no longer makes much of its tin plate. And that's left our country at the mercy of foreign suppliers. Now, last year, when President Trump took office, he tried to right the ship for America's steel industry, and he imposed 50% tariffs on foreign steel, up from their prior 25% mark, which, by the way, Joe Biden kept in place. Now, that has begun to reinvigorate the once mighty steel industry in America, but there's a short-term hiccup. It takes a few years to restart tin plate operations in America, and that hasn't even got started yet. There hasn't even been the investments needed to do that. And so those factories making the cans are now paying a whole lot more for their foreign supplies of tin plate. Hundreds of millions of dollars, in fact, more. And that's begun to put pressure on American farmers and consumers. Those costs are being passed down. The farmers are being, who are already under duress, being asked to eat some of the costs. And then when you go to the store, you're asking and eating some of it as well. We're going to introduce you to a mom in Florida who noticed her grocery bill going up and tracked it right to canned goods. She's not the only one you're going to hear from about that. A recent study from the Alpab Family Economic Center at the University of Cincinnati found canned tuna in Midwest grocery stores was about 7.3% higher since September. Canned green beans up 9.1%. And if this one doesn't give you heartburn, I don't know what does. Canned soup up up a whopping 22.3%. That's way above the increases in other food prices. It's because the metal got more expensive when the terrorists were there. Now, don't worry. There's some good news. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently told reporters that the administration is considering some targeted relief from steel tariffs in instances where U.S. manufacturing capacity and metal supplies are lagging. The tin plate supplies are one of them. And while President Trump's going to be the guy who ultimately decides on this, there are signs the administration is considering some short-term relief on tin plates specifically. And we're going to hear in a few minutes from the industry. We're going to hear from the farmers. We're going to hear from a mom. Today, we're going to hear about what the problem is. so you know what it is. And then tomorrow, we're going to have Senator Ron Johnson on and Congressman Tom McClinton and Congressman Tom Tiffany to tell you about the solution. That's what we have. And the solution is pretty simple. Getting some short-term relief on canned prices while beginning the process of building out that tin plate manufacturing industry in America. So we have the best of both worlds. Lower prices, Americans applied, and the tariffs then go back up and protect American jobs from the unfair competition we've seen, particularly from places like China. That's the whole conversation today. So we're going to take a quick commercial break. When we come back, two executives from the canning industry is going to lay out what I just told you in much better detail. You're going to understand why this is a kitchen table issue. So be sure to check it out. Hey, folks, let me flag something important as we move into the winter. Doctors have warned that this year's food season is going to be a rough one. Now even mainstream media outlets like Fox News are reporting that a new, more virulent and severe flu strain is spreading faster in the U.S. like it did in Europe. The kicker, the already ineffective flu vaccine is even less effective against this new strain. That's not good. What the media won't tell you is that Dr. Peter McCullough, my good friend, warned about this weeks ago. In fact, right on this show, you know that because you were listening. 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Now, when you use the promo code just news at checkout, using that URL, you know what's going to happen? You can get 10% off anything in the store. Go check it out today. Go say thank you to Dr. Peter McCullough for being such an innovator. You probably never thought about it. It's a metal called tin plate that you use it every day in your kitchen and at your dinner table. Every time you open a soup can or a can of vegetables, that can is most likely made of tin plate. And for decades, we made that metal right here in the United States. And today we still make the cans right here in the heartland of the USA, places like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin. But because of unfair foreign competition and regulation in America, we don't make much of the tin plate anyway. That has left our country at the mercy of foreign suppliers. Now, last year, when President Trump came to office, he tried to right the ship. for America's steel industry, imposed 50% tariffs on foreign steel, up from their prior 25%, and that has begun to reinvigorate the once mighty steel machine that was here in the United States. But there's still a short-term hiccup. It takes a few years to restart template operations in America That something you can turn on overnight and that hasn even got started So those factories making the cans are now paying a whole lot more for their foreign supplies hundreds of millions of dollars, in fact. And that has begun to put pressure on American farmers who are being asked to absorb some of those costs, and consumers. Last night, I heard from a mom in Florida who said her grocery bill for canned goods has been going up. She's not alone. You heard that. Remember, it was a pretty good interview last night. A recent study from the Alpaw Family Economic Center at the University of Cincinnati found canned tuna in the Midwest grocery stores is up about 7.3% just in September. Canned green beans up 9.1% over the same period. And canned soup, get a look at this, 22.3%. That's way above other food prices when you look at the CPI. But not to worry. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessett recently told reporters the administration is considering some targeted relief from steel tariffs in instances where U.S. manufacturing capacity and metal supplies are lagging. And while President Trump will be the ultimate decider on that issue, there are signs the administration might be considering some short term relief on tin plate. We're going to hear in a few minutes from one of Secretary Bessett's top aides if he gets off a plane. We're trying to get him off a plane in time. Tonight, we're also going to talk to can makers, farmers and lawmakers on how America got into this pickle and a unique solution that could help America thread a needle by getting some short term relief on can prices while building a whole new template manufacturing manufacturing industry in America. That's going to be the ultimate solution. Now, that aims to bring prices down short and long term while creating new American jobs so that tariffs can be raised back up to fend off any unfair competition coming from overseas. That's what we're going to focus on tonight. It is truly a dinner table, kitchen table issue. And we're going to dive right in right at the beginning of the show. Amanda will join us in a little bit. But at the top of the show tonight, we've got two industry representatives, Scott Breen, president of Can Manufacturers Institute, and Robert Gatz, vice president and general manager at Can Corporation of America. Gentlemen, welcome. Good to have you here. Thank you, John. All right. I don't think a lot of people know. They've gone to the grocery store, like, hey, wait, that can of peas is a little bit more expensive. That can of soup is a lot more expensive. They had no idea what's been going on behind the scenes. Let me start with you, Scott. You have seen this play out. There's pressure on farmers, pressures on consumers. It's going to get worse, right? Yeah. Well, thanks, John, for having us here. And you're right that a lot of people don't think about the metal can and what goes into it. But we are making a lot of metal cans in this country. That's because metal cans have a significant impact on our economy, on national security and on our public health. We make 135 billion metal cans every year in the United States. With a B. With a B. And every minute, we're making a quarter million. That's amazing. And those metal cans, a significant portion of them are steel food cans. And they're filled with food that people depend on. Produce, pet food, infant formula. And just like you said, more and more people are going to the grocery store and they're getting sticker shock. As the cost of these canned foods go up, you heard it, like you said last night, from the mom from Florida. I think she felt uncomfortable. as she goes to buy the beans to make chili. And so that is because there's that 50% tariff on steel. And the key input to making steel food cans is tin plate steel, specialized form of steel. Only 1% of steel goes into packaging. And because there's not nearly enough made here, can manufacturers like Robert are forced to import that. There's that added cost and it has to be absorbed elsewhere along the American steel can value chain. Becomes pretty expensive quickly. in that scenario when the tariffs are on them. Robert, when did we start getting out of the business of tin plate? I mean, we used to have a supply of it, I think around 2018. Does that sound right? Yeah. So first of all, thank you for having me. Before I get to that question, let me just tell you a little bit about Can Corporation of America. So it's a company that's vertically integrated. We started in 1928 growing mushrooms. And we started packaging mushrooms in tin cans in the 1960s. We became vertically integrated by building Can Corporation of America. and it's a privately held third generation company. So yeah, the overall template sector, as Scott had mentioned, is we used to have 12 operating lines and this is going back to 2018. And since then, now it's only down to three. So companies like us, we are forced to go outside of our borders, you know, allies like Canada, a European Union and other countries as well to secure this very specialized metal template. What forced so many of the American lines out of business? Was it just the dumping of metal from China and places like that? I think there's a combination of different things. Lack of investment within the United States, within the tin mill manufacturing sector. Right. And then also unfair competition as well, too, over the years. Yeah. And what I'd like to mention is that American can manufacturers, they're buying all the domestic tin plate steel they can. Everything they got. Everything they got. Preach to the shelf. Yes. There's just not enough made here. And that's because steel companies, they are taking advantage of what this gift that the Trump administration has given them of the 50% tariff so that they have more opportunity to invest. But they're doing it in higher volume products. We have not seen the payoff on tin plate steel. And so in the absence of that payoff, all that's happening is that we're creating added costs that flow through to American can manufacturers, American farmers, and ultimately to the American consumer. And all three get hit. All right. So let's first take a look at the can industry. It is a big employer, like 20,000, 30,000 jobs. Is that right? Yeah. Thank you. 28,000 Americans are making those 135 billion metal canes that I was talking about across 33 states. Yeah. It's a huge industry. We know when we go to the shopping store, we know there's a lot of kids. Let's ask. I'm going to ask you about this. The thread the needle strategy for the administration is going to be they don't want to give foreign makers a break long term because otherwise the unfair practices will come. What will be the impetus to get a true tin industry going here so that the can supply is here? What is that going to take? Yeah, so I think what we do know is that this 50% tariff is not stimulating investment in domestic tin plate. Haven't seen it since 2018 when President Trump first put it in there. Haven't seen it since the 50%. So what we're saying is let's rethink this approach. Let's modify it so that we do America first across the American value chain. So that, yes, we stimulate domestic tin play in the best way. But let's also make sure that our American farmers, our American can manufacturers are winning. And then let's make sure that those consumers go to the grocery store, don't have that sticker shock, and really deliver a win to the Trump administration on affordability. And they can do it. Again, this is a specialized product. Only 1% of steel goes into packaging. so we can modify the approach with tin plate and then keep the tariffs exactly where they are for the 99 of steel that goes in other products yeah that makes a lot of sense uh robert when you look at a can about that size oh tomato paste can or vegetable can how much has it gone up because of the tariffs just that one can when you by the time you're gonna sell it to the consumer yeah it's gone up tremendously uh i mean if you if you look at store shelf prices uh it may not seem much as far as for when you're talking about cents but once you boil that down into how much that actual can cost for the fillers and the processors, it's gone up significantly. Yeah, it's a real issue. And as long as the tariffs are at this rate, they're going to stay at that level. There's no way. The big cost has to go somewhere, right? Exactly. Yeah. So what happens to farmers? We're going to hear from some farmers in a little bit, but they're going to be asked to take some of the hit on this, right? And then consumers take the other part of it? Yeah, because there's a whole other aspect to this as well, too, as prices have gone up related to steel, template steel. you know, the overall packaging for that, the processing, and all the way down to the consumer level. As those prices have gone up, now we're starting to see importation of finished filled canned goods coming from many other countries, in particular China. Cheaper for them to ship in here because they're going to make it a lot cheaper, right? Absolutely. And you don't have to pay the 50% tariff on the filled food cans at the moment. So by having this 50% tariff that it makes it more expensive for U.S. produced and filled cans, creates a cost advantage for foreign produced and filled cans, which hurts American farmers, but also hurts our trade deficit. Yeah. One other point to that as well, too, is that importation of goods, there's a reason for that. But at the same time, we need to really think about the overall security of our food system here in the United States, but also the safety as well, too. Steel can. Not many people know this. They see a steel can. They see it on the shelf. It's not that big of a deal, right? It's steel. Well, it's not. As we, you know, tin plate has a lot of properties in it. How you manufacture that can has a lot of properties into a lot of science, a lot of engineering to make sure that it's shelf stable for a very long time. Right So you know as things are coming in from overseas You have no certainty You really don know how those foods or vegetables were grown how they were processed what vessel they going into as far as sure they can what are the properties So, you know, safety and food security is huge with this. And just to pick up something on what Robert said, food security. Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Kristi Noem said food security is national security. And Trump voters are concerned about this. We did a survey back in September. 98 percent of Trump voters said they're concerned about can food come from other countries? Oh, sure. 82 percent said they're concerned about gross store prices. And a similar amount said we want to see this template tariff relief so that costs come down. We don't know what pesticides they use. They don't know what metal and things. And so it not only becomes a food security issue and a on America first and industry thing, but you may have a Maha issue here down the right. Right. We don't know. We may not know five or 10 years later. the way. Why are we getting these diseases? So there's that Maha angle. All right. So let's break down the classic Washington gauntlet because there's two places we got to go, right? You got to get the administration to do one thing and then you got to get Congress to do the other. We're going to have Senator Ron Johnson here in a second. We're going to tackle that. Let me start with Congress. What do we think Congress can do to stimulate the tin industry and balance this issue short term? Yeah. So that's the thing. I think we need to have a variety of tools in place to stimulate domestic tin plate production, right? But then ultimately, we are eager to partner with the Trump administration to have an approach where, again, we stimulate domestic tin plate production, but we also make sure that we have strong American can manufacturing, farming, and reduced prices for the American consumer. That makes a lot of sense. All right. What did you guys make? And I'll start with you, Robert. What did you make of Scott Besson's recent comments that we're looking at it, don't know where it'll be? It has to be the right target. But he did suggest for the first time since President Trump came back to office that there may be some flexibility on some narrow markets. This looks like one of those narrow markets. Yeah, I think that, you know, threading the needle with this is a big deal. And, you know, look, we're we've been in business for 50 years, Ken Corporation. We're patriots. We're going to celebrate our 50th anniversary this year on the 200 on the 250th. the 250th, so we're very proud of that. But, you know, in addition, you know, we want to make sure that we're working very closely with Trump administration. We completely understand we support balanced trade billably. And if there is a way to go ahead and thread this needle related to template targeted tariff relief, all while being able to invest back into the United States to build that capacity back up, as we mentioned at the top of broadcast, you know, there was a point in time, 100% of all of our steel template was domestically, you know, used for making of cans. And that has eroded away. Who are our best friends on template short term? Canada, I would say. You know, and it's unfortunate that there's so much tension between the United States and Canada, but... It always works itself out. It always has, at least historically. Who is the toughest actor that we need to be worried about, about cheap food coming in from overseas? Definitely China. Yeah. There's a couple other countries as well, too. I think the one thing that consumers need to be cautious of is that when you go to the store and you buy a can of food, turn it around, take a look at country of origin. And it's going to be in very, very small press. Right. Right. Yeah. Nutri-class is all right. And make a conscious decision on exactly where you're buying your food from. And there's still a lot of food that's produced, harvested, you know, and packaged in the United States. And we want that to grow. Yeah. Which I hope farmers as well. That's it. Our farmers want it to grow. I can't wait to get to that conversation with the farmers later in the show. I literally didn't know this issue was going on until just about three months ago. It's so fascinating. And there are always, you know, we have the big policy consequences and a lot of reason to be excited about some of the changes. But sometimes these unintended consequences come in. This seems like one. This is one of them. What do you think the timetable is for Washington to act before this starts to become a real crisis for everyday Americans? Yeah, I mean, I think you heard it from the mom from Florida yesterday. You know, one of the things. It's a problem. It's already a problem. We think as the tariff continues to flow through, we're going to see increased prices this year in 2026. Yeah. And ultimately, what we want to see is America first across the American value chain. Yes, we share the goal with the Trump administration of more domestic tin plate production. Yep. But we think we can have winning there as well as win to make sure American can manufacturers and farmers stay strong, as well as, again, those prices stay low. And like the mom of Florida said yesterday, she has hope and faith that the Trump President Trump will hear her. We share that and we have faith and believe that President Trump will hear that and deliver a more targeted tariff relief for template to help manufacturers, farmers and consumers in America. If there's someone sitting there, he's got off the assembly line or just brought the kids home from school. What can they do at home to help in this? Yeah, I think, well, they can always tell their representative senator that they want to see this kind of tariff relief. But also, like Robert was saying, look at the can. It does tell you where the food is coming from. And buy those American-made and filled cans. It helps our economy. And we have a stellar safety and record and high quality. And you can trust those cans if they're made in America. Wow. But you didn't expect to learn that much about the tin can industry. But look at it. This actually is something that hurts us. The farmer's under duress. They're now going to have foreign foods coming in with maybe less health. That's why I did the show. I want you to learn. This is one of those small issues that actually has a big impact on our lives. And I wanted to bring it to you. Now, when we come back, we're going to hear from a mom who on the front lines of shopping to make her chili and her other favorite dishes for her kids started to notice the price in her grocery cart was going up. And it was not the eggs or the milk, the staples. It was the canned goods. We're going to have that next right after these messages. Welcome back, everybody. The president's plan to establish long term financial security for millions of newborn children through his Trump accounts has been discussed here before. What makes today special is that we have a mother who is a Trump account holder. And we're going to talk to her about her experience with that process and how President Trump's policies aimed at making America afford again are having a positive impact in Florida. Joining us now to discuss that and also what John teased a moment ago, this struggle for tin cans, because everybody buys these for casseroles, for salsa. So we got to talk about that. Chair for Moms for Liberty, Rebecca Litwork. Rebecca, thanks so much for being with us. Hi, thanks for having us. I don't mean to correct, but it's Moms for America. But we are Moms for Liberty, too. Liberty, freedom. Absolutely. And it probably said America. I probably just glossed over it. Rebecca, thank you so much for being with us. Have you noticed that tin cans, those types of things at the grocery store, because President Trump is all about affordability. He emphasized that over and over again last night. Have you noticed that those have been more expensive? Absolutely. It's funny you ask that specific question about the tin cans because I'm down in Palm Beach County, Florida, but the last two months we've gotten really cold days. and whenever that happens I love to bring out my mom's recipe of good old American chili and growing up my mom fed me and my six brothers and sisters so a total of seven one of her staples was chili because it was very inexpensive to make and when I was going to the grocery store over the last couple months my what once was $20 and under pot of American chili is not that anymore. It's more around $30 to $35, sometimes $40, depending on when I add the meat because meat has gone up too. But it seems very silly when we're talking about canned tomatoes and canned beans, things that you don't normally think about, but they've become expensive. Another meal that I love to make for my six-year-old son, his favorite, it is mac and cheese with a can of peas, mac and cheese and peas. And that was normally like a three to five dollar meal. And it's now easily six to seven dollars. So I've definitely noticed a rise in those in those canned goods. I don't know. I'm actually the next time I'm on West Palm Beach, I'm going to look you up and see if we go do lunch together because chili and mac and cheese with peas sounds really good. But there's a real there's a real issue here, right? And it's not that our farmers' foods are getting more expensive. It that we have this temporary sort of disruption in the marketplace For years we didn focus on tin plate which is the sort of steel that we use to make those cans It comes from overseas President Trump trying to rebalance the economy and get more fair trade for America. And so we put some tariffs and the system wasn't ready to inherit or in-house all of this tin plate production. When you learn that, and I know you do, you're studied up on this, it's kind of amazing that something like food is affected downstream from that. How do we get more Americans educated on how the system is sort of woven together and we need to fix it? You know, that's a great question. One of the things that we do in Moms for America is I gather women, specifically moms in my home once a month, and we study up on our history. We fall in love with the Constitution all over again. And we really equip ourselves as moms. That way we can teach our children, you know, all these great things about our country. You know, the divine blessing of self-governance that comes, you know, not from Washington. It comes from us teaching our children in the home. And so this has been already a topic in our home about, you know, the grocery prices. I'm like, where are you shopping? Because where I'm shopping, you know. And a lot of us, what I'm finding is we don't have the extra time to go and search out these stores where we can, you know, find, you know, like a few cents cheaper. But I've actually dug in that way I can go and share with my with my mom community that all the way back to like the Pittsburgh Steelers. Like we were once, you know, you know, like dominating in the steel game. And so, um, but you know, all of us, we really do have faith in the administration. Um, we have hope that he will, you know, hear us. And, um, you know, I speak for, for all the moms and the parents that are feeding our kids, like it needs to be more comfortable again when we're talking, especially when we're talking about just like canned foods. but yeah I'm doing my part that way I can educate you know my my Moms for America group yeah Rebecca before we let you go you know I think that for for a lot of Americans cans are considered an economical choice like you said with with chili for me with taco soup it's a great option when you're trying to feed a big family if moms in America are priced out of the can market, what do you do? Honestly, we just have to make adjustments. I mean, what else can we do? We just have to say, I mean, if our grocery prices are still this high, we're just going to have to, you know, it's going to be uncomfortable for a little bit. And, you know, even if you're buying generic, the generic prices have gone up. And so I just want to say hold out hope because I have, I am confident that this will get worked out. But again, yeah, it's just going to kind of disrupt every other part of our life where we're spending so much money at the grocery store, we can't afford to do other things. All right, folks, one more good one to go. Two farmers. You're going to love these guys. They're patriots. They make great food. They come from multi-generation farms. But they are concerned that this tin plate issue is going to hurt the agriculture industry and then ultimately hurt you and I. Final conversation of the day up next with two great farmers from America's heartland right after these messages. All right, everybody, welcome back. While there is still a lot to address, the administration is making significant progress on its ambitious journey to bring the steel industry back home. So let's explore some innovative strategies that can help pave the way for this endeavor. Joining us now is Paul Canning, a farmer from Montana, who you just saw in that video, and also Glenn Abbott in that video, a farmer from Indiana. Paul and Glenn, thanks so much for being with us. Thanks for having us. Yeah. I love the generational stories that you both have. Paul, I'll start with you. It takes something for a generational farm to survive, and that is innovation. Considering the current climate that we are dealing with with steel, Paul, how has your family had to innovate? Yeah, well, thanks. We've been here for a century feeding American families through depressions and wars and natural disasters and everything in between. And so one way we've innovated is incorporating things like pulse crops. And they've really been a great economic boom for us recently until the until the recent tariffs came along on the steel can. So, look, without that steel can, my crops are useless if they have to stay in the field. And that can is the bridge, my farm and the American pantry. And when that bridge becomes too expensive, then farmers lose, American consumers lose and grocery bills get too high. And it's just as simple as that. And so we look for alternative markets rather than feeding American families. And obviously we want to feed American families first. Big choice. Ben, real quick, I want to ask a little bit. I think everybody thinks, all right, well, if the tin plate went up and the cost went up because of tariffs, well, that's just going to get passed on to the consumers. But those big distributors, they put pressure on the farmer to take part of the loss, too, don't they? Yeah, they sure do. Unfortunately, the farmer is kind of the end user, and therefore we kind of get stuck with the added cost. And unfortunately, the added cost puts us out of reach for global competition, which we really truly can't be in that situation. Sat recently with the owner of Red Gold, and he described how companies across the seas can put a crop similar to ours into a can and ship it here cheaper than we can put it into a can, literally taking markets away. So we've got to find we've got to find a solution for this. We need to find it fast because red gold, a great American company is not going to be able to survive if they have to buy cans that are more expensive than our competition across the ocean. Absolutely. Glenn, I want to stay on you for a moment. If you sat before President Trump and said this is the one thing you can do to help us out, what would that be? Yeah, I believe the one thing that we could do is have tariff reform. I'm not against tariff completely. I think they have a place in this country. I think they've done some great things in certain industries, but this is an unintended consequence. They did not intend to put a company like Redgold, and therefore the farmer who grows for Redgold, in a pinch where they can't compete. And so I think some reform is what's needed. And if we could get that reform where we could compete, I think we would deliver to the consumer the best food in a can that they can have growing right here in the United States. Amen for that. We love that. Paul, before we let you go, right now, what's the approximate percentage of growth in costs that these tariffs are caught in? When you can, the price goes up. We've seen some studies. It looks like anywhere from seven to twenty two percent. What are you seeing on your side of the equation? Yeah, absolutely. So what we're seeing in the at the farm is things like pulse crops are 15 year lows right now on prices because we're unable to distribute these through these through these cans that we need. So 15 year lows were half we're getting half the amount for our crop that we got a year ago. and it just doesn't make sense. You know, Glenn's absolutely right. President Trump has shown he's bold. He's bold enough to use tariffs to support America. And he could make a great bold move right now that will really help farmers, help American consumers and drop grocery bills. It's a total knockout for his agenda. All right, folks, that wraps up our Saturday edition of John Solomon Reports, the podcast from Just the News. A big thank you to all of our guests. What a great conversation. I know it's a narrow issue, but it is a dinner table issue and that's why I wanted to bring this to you. This is a kitchen and a grill and a shopping cart issue and no one's talking about it in the media. We want to do a deep dive. I hope you learned some stuff. We gave you some stats. We gave you some real people. Tomorrow we're going to give you some real solutions. Our Sunday Brunch Edition will include Senator Ron Johnson, Congressman Tom Tiffany and Congressman Tom McClinton. That's a great lineup. Until then, God bless you and have a great night. I'm John Bedford.