A Second Favorable Decision from Canadian Tribunals on Dumping of Rebar

You will find below a press release from the Canadian Steel Producers Association (CSPA) regarding a decision by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) on the dumping of rebar imports. For more details, please refer to the CSPA website at canadiansteel.ca. 

OTTAWA, May 4, 2017 – The Canadian Steel Producers Association (CSPA) welcomes the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT)’s recent finding that the dumping of concrete reinforcing bar originating in or exported from the Republic of Belarus, Chinese Taipei, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, Japan, the Portuguese Republic and the Kingdom of Spain has caused injury to the domestic industry. As a result of this finding, duties imposed by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) in their final determination issued on April 3, 2017 will remain in place.

The CBSA investigation was initiated in response to a complaint filed by Canadian producers ArcelorMittal Long Products Canada, G.P., Gerdau Ameristeel Corporation and AltaSteel Ltd.

“We continue to appreciate CBSA’s and the CITT’s commitment through the investigation and public hearing process to ensuring that fair trade in imports of rebar will be respected,” said CSPA President Joseph Galimberti. “It is essential for domestic steel producers and their employees, that market-based competition in Canada is preserved. This is an important outcome for the 22,000 Canadians employed directly and the 100,000 employed indirectly in steel.”

The CSPA also welcomes the CBSA’s re-investigation to update the normal values and export prices respecting certain concrete reinforcing bar originating in or exported from the People’s Republic of China (China), the Republic of Korea and the Republic of Turkey, as well as the amount of subsidy of certain concrete reinforcing bar originating in or exported from China, in accordance with the Special Import Measures Act (SIMA).

This reinvestigation, initiated on May 1, 2017 and concluding by September 1, 2017, will also include an inquiry pursuant to section 20 of SIMA respecting the steel industry in China. Several recent section 20 inquiries on the Chinese steel industry by the CBSA have indicated that the domestic prices for rebar in China are substantially determined by the Government of China (GOC) and as a result, there is sufficient reason to believe that these prices are not substantially the same as they would be if they were determined in a competitive market.

The CSPA also notes that the reinvestigation will consider, in cases where changes occurred in domestic prices, market conditions or costs associated with the production and sales of the subject goods, or amounts of subsidy received, the responsibility of concerned parties to inform the CBSA of such changes in writing and in a timely manner. If the reinvestigation finds that concerned parties do not or did not properly notify the CBSA of substantial changes, or if they did not provide the information required to make any necessary adjustments to values, retroactive assessments of anti-dumping or countervailing duties may be issued.

The CBSA noted in its Notice of Reinvestigation that Agency has indications that substantial changes may have occurred during the period of investigation (October 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017) and that they were not advised by the exporters of these changes as required. If these substantial changes are confirmed by the CBSA during the re-investigation, retroactive assessments will be applied and impacted parties will be notified of such a decision.

The CSPA and its member companies believe in fair and effective enforcement of trade remedy laws which support Canada’s ability to quickly respond to dumped and subsidized imports. As such, we believe this reinvestigation, allowing for the application of retroactive duties if warranted, to be an important step in ensuring the fair trade of steel products in Canada.

“Our membership will continue to monitor and vigorously defend against unfairly traded, dumped and subsidized steel products,” said Galimberti. “The recent improvements that the Government of Canada has made to our trade remedy framework are very helpful, and we look forward to further legislative enhancements to address unfair trade in Canada, as announced in Budget 2017, coming into force in the near term.”