THE Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) announced on Wednesday that it is initiating investigations into the alleged injurious dumping and subsidizing of certain hot-rolled carbon steel plate and high-strength low-alloy steel plate originating in or exported from the Republic of India (India) and the Russian Federation (Russia).
The investigations follows a complaint filed on April 20 by Essar Steel Algoma Inc. of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (the complainant). The complainant alleges that the dumping and subsidizing of these goods are harming Canadian production by causing the following: price undercutting, erosion and suppression; lost sales and market share; financial results; overcapacity in the domestic industry; negative impact on capital investments; and loss of employment.
The Canadian International Trade Tribunal (Tribunal) will begin a preliminary inquiry to determine whether the imports are harming Canadian producers and will issue a decision by August 10. While the Tribunal is examining the question of injury, the CBSA will investigate whether the imports are being dumped and / or subsidized, and will make a preliminary decision by September 8.
If the CBSA makes a preliminary determination of dumping and / or subsidizing, the investigations will be continued for the purpose of making a final decision within 90 days after the date of the preliminary determination.
If the CBSA’s investigations reveal that imports of the subject goods have not been dumped or subsidized, that the margin of dumping or amount of subsidy is insignificant or that the actual and potential volume of dumped or subsidized goods is negligible, the investigations will be terminated.
Although duties to counteract the dumping and subsidizing are normally only applied to goods released on or after the date of the CBSA’s preliminary determination(s), if the Tribunal determines that an unusually large increase in harmful imports has occurred prior to the CBSA’s decision and that the retroactive application of anti-dumping or countervailing duty is therefore justified, duty could be levied on the goods brought into Canada as of now.
A copy of the statement of reasons, which provides more details about these investigations, will be available on the CBSA’s website at www.cbsa.gc.ca/sima-lmsi within 15 days.
Quick Facts
* Dumping occurs when goods are sold to importers in Canada at prices that are less than their selling prices in the exporter’s domestic market or at unprofitable prices.
* Subsidizing occurs when goods imported into Canada benefit from foreign government financial assistance.
* The Special Import Measures Act protects Canadian producers from the damaging effects of such unfair trade.
* As of March 31, 2015, 44 such measures are in force, covering a wide variety of industrial and consumer products from steel products to bell peppers. These measures have directly helped to protect nearly 39,000 Canadian jobs and over $7.5 billion in Canadian production.