On September 8, 2022, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (“CITT”) issued an Order continuing its finding of a “threat of injury” in respect of hot-rolled carbon steel plate and high-strength low-alloy steel plate originating in or exported from a number of countries (as defined by CBSA and CITT: “PLA7”).

The Order effectively means the current anti-dumping duties (“ADDs”) of up to 59.7% will remain in place for Subject Goods originating in or exported from the listed countries, with the exception of Subject Goods exported from South Korea by Hyundai Steel Company (“Hyundai Steel”).

Subject Goods are defined in the Order as follows:

“hot-rolled carbon steel plate and high-strength low-alloy steel plate, not further manufactured than hot-rolled, heat-treated or not, in cut lengths, in widths from 24 inches (+/‑610 mm) to 152 inches (+/‑3,860 mm) inclusive, and thicknesses from 0.187 inches (+/‑4.75 mm) up to and including 3.0 inches (76.2 mm) (with all dimensions being plus or minus allowable tolerances contained in the applicable standards), but excluding plate for use in the manufacture of pipe and tube (also known as skelp); plate in coil form, plate having a rolled, raised figure at regular intervals on the surface (also known as floor plate), originating in or exported from the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Republic of Indonesia, the Italian Republic, Japan and the Republic of Korea (South Korea).”

Background

Canada Border Services Agency (“CBSA”) originally initiated an investigation in PLA7 on September 5, 2013 in response to a complaint from Canadian producers Essar Steel Algoma Inc. about exports from Brazil, Chinese Taipei (aka Taiwan), Denmark, Indonesia, Italy, Japan and the Republic of Korea (aka South Korea).  On April 17, 2014 the CBSA made a final determination that Subject Goods were being dumped, with the exception of goods originating in or exported from Taiwan. 

On May 20, 2014, the CITT issued a finding that the dumping of the Subject Goods (as defined in the finding) from the listed countries was threatening to cause injury to the domestic Canadian industry, while excluding a number of goods from the finding.  As a result of this finding, the ADDs determined by the CBSA came into effect (replacing earlier provisional duties) in respect of Subject Goods from the listed countries.

The CITT conducted an expiry review after 5 years, as required by section 76.03 of the Special Import Measures Act (“SIMA”), and on March 13, 2020, continued its finding (and the ADDs) in respect of Subject Goods from all of the listed countries, although this time around it added further exclusions for certain specific goods.

 Why Did this Review Happen Now?

While Expiry Reviews are conducted every 5 years, in this case a review was conducted earlier at the request of the Minister of Finance – apparently as part of Canada’s compliance with a WTO Ruling on carbon steel welded pipe (“Canada – Welded Pipe”).  Hyundai Steel had previously tried to receive an exclusion during the CITT’s expiry review, but the CITT denied the request.

What’s Next?

Apart from goods exported from South Korea by Hyundai Steel, any party which would have been affected by these anti-dumping measures will continue to be at risk of huge ADDs when importing to Canada!

Businesses importing goods that may fall within the definition of Subject Goods should seek legal advice before importing any goods, otherwise they could find themselves paying massive anti-dumping duties and/or countervailing duties!

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