Media Release

CANADIAN STEEL APPLAUDS USE OF TRADE TOOLS FOR CANADIAN JOBS

Canada Border Services Agency continues to demonstrate Canada’s steadfast commitment to fair trade and using the tools at its disposal.

May 11, 2023 – OTTAWA, ON – The Canadian Steel Producers Association (CSPA) applauds the Government of Canada and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) for their fulsome use of Canada’s trade remedy toolbox. The Canadian steel industry is at a critical juncture as hundreds of thousands of tonnes of offshore steel imports are flooding the Canadian market. The Government of Canada must consistently use trade tools such as retroactive duty assessments and particular market situation now, and in the future, to ensure fair conditions for Canadian steel, workers, and communities.

“These recently concluded reinvestigations on corrosion resistant steel and rebar, the $6.1 million retroactive duty assessment in line pipe, and the finding of a particular market situation in Turkey demonstrate that Canada continues to crack down on unfair trade,” says Catherine Cobden, President & CEO of CSPA.

The Government of Canada’s commendable use of particular market situation in the Turkish rebar reinvestigation is a first in Canadian trade history. This important tool was developed by the Government of Canada to enable CBSA to address a wider array of circumstances that impact trade flows, such as in this case where Russian steel was flooding the Turkish market and distorting prices, along with volatile economic conditions.

Similarly, retroactive duty assessment, like particular market situation, is paramount to demonstrating that unfair trade practices in Canada come with significant consequences.

“While we are pleased to see that CBSA is conducting analysis on the need for retroactive duty assessments in both the rebar and corrosion resistant steel reinvestigations, there is more that the Government of Canada can and must do. Additional practices we are looking for include making retroactive duty assessments an automatic feature as several other ongoing normal value reinvestigations conclude, and further developing its anti-circumvention system to effectively enforce anti-dumping measures.” adds Cobden.

Canadian steel is amongst the greenest in the world and announced investments by steel producers will cut the industry’s emissions by a further 45% by 2030. As the Canadian steel industry continues its path to decarbonization the need to maintain our rigorous trade defences becomes all the more urgent. Creating these fair conditions for Canadian steel contributes to both Canada’s competitiveness and climate ambitions.