On July 2, 2024, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (the “CITT”) issued a preliminary determination of injury, concluding that there was evidence that the alleged dumping of certain concrete reinforcing bar from Bulgaria, Thailand and the UAE has caused material injury to the domestic industry.

Background Information

On May 6, 2024, following the initiation of an anti-dumping investigation by the Canada Border Services Agency (the “CBSA”), the CITT initiated a preliminary injury inquiry in respect of alleged dumping of concrete reinforcing bar, which we covered in a previous blog post. 

Further details on the Subject Goods and further exclusions can be found in the notice itself.  Note: concrete reinforcing bar from other countries may be covered by existing anti-dumping orders RB1, RB2, RB3 and RB4.

Reasons for the CITT Determination

In its examination, the CITT identified several factors contributing to its finding of material injury to the domestic industry:

• Bulgaria, Thailand and the UAE have excess capacity with soft demand and soft price for rebar; and               
• Canada is attractive due to its relatively higher prices for rebar, and even more so as other major markets have imposed anti-dumping measures against the Subject Goods.

Consequences of the Preliminary Determination

Following the CITT’s affirmative preliminary determination, all eyes are now on the CBSA which is conducting its own concurrent dumping investigation.  If the CBSA determines that dumping is taking place, it will impose provisional anti-dumping duties (“ADD”) on the Subject Goods.  Provisional duties are generally calculated and assessed based on a percentage of the export price of the subject goods imported into Canada during the provisional period. 

CBSA’s preliminary determination was extended to September 13, 2024, following a notice of extension of investigation.

Final Dumping Investigation and Injury Determination

Within 120 days of the CBSA’s preliminary determination, the CITT must issue a finding to finally conclude their inquiry, and issue reasons for their finding within another 15 days.

Concurrently, the CBSA will have to make a final determination within 90 days following its preliminary determination (which will include issuing normal values for cooperating producers), and issue reasons explaining the decision within another 15 days.

How to Get Involved

Given the potentially significant duties that may be imposed depending on the result of the inquiry, affected businesses should keep an eye on the proceedings and take steps as necessary to ensure their interests are represented.

Interested parties should have already responded to the CBSA’s questionnaire.  Those who have not yet filed a response to the CBSA should contact counsel as soon as possible to try and potentially “catch up” in the process.

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