TRADE CASES HEADLINESTrade Cases
Canadian Tribunal Initiates Inquiry into Chinese OCTG
Aug. 26, 2009 The Canadian International Trade Tribunal initiated a preliminary injury inquiry into a complaint by Tenaris Canada, of Calgary, Alta.; Evraz Inc. NA Canada, of Regina, Sask.; and Lakeside Steel Corp., of Welland, Ont., that they have suffered injury as a result of the dumping and subsidizing of oil country tubular goods from China.
Conducted in accordance with the Special Import Measures Act, the Tribunal's inquiry is the result of a dumping and subsidizing investigation initiated by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
On October 23, the Tribunal will determine whether there is a reasonable indication that the alleged dumping and subsidizing have injured the domestic industry. If it does, the CBSA will continue its investigation and issue a preliminary determination by November 23. If this preliminary determination indicates that dumping and/or subsidizing has occurred, the agency will investigate still further, and the Tribunal will initiate a final injury inquiry.
Anti-dumping duties will be imposed only if the Tribunal finds that dumped or subsidized products are injuring, or threatening to injure, the Canadian producers.
The Tribunal is an independent quasi-judicial body that reports to Parliament through the Minister of Finance. It hears cases on dumped and subsidized imports, safeguard complaints, complaints about federal government procurement, and appeals of customs and excise tax rulings. When requested by the federal government, the Tribunal also provides advice on other economic, trade, and tariff matters.
The Tribunal requests that any person, association, or government interested in participating in the inquiry file a Notice of Participation.
In a related announcement, the United Steelworkers union welcomes the federal investigation and seeks legal reform that would allow it to participate in the process.
"We have been requesting this action for months," said Ken Neumann, Canadian National Director of the United Steelworkers. "Our members manufacture oil country tubular goods. We would like to tell the Canadian International Trade Tribunal about the hundreds of Canadian steelworkers who are currently laid off, in no small part because of China’s unfair trade practices."
Canada's trade-remedy law prevents Canadian workers and their unions from participating in such investigations.