Statesman in the metal box business? (7)

I believe the answer is:

canning

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'box business?' is the definition.
The definition and answer are not the same part of speech.

'statesman in the metal' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'in' is found in the answer.
'metal' could be 'ca' (Ca is an example) and 'ca' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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