Canada imposes safeguard measures on imports of certain steel products

The Government of Canada announced that it is taking further steps to prevent diversion of foreign steel products into Canada by imposing provisional safeguards on imports of seven products: heavy plate, concrete reinforcing bar (rebar), energy tubular products, hot-rolled sheet, pre-painted steel, stainless steel wire and wire rod.

The provisional safeguards will come into force on October 25, 2018.

The Government is also requesting that the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) conduct an inquiry to determine whether final safeguards are warranted and, if so, to recommend appropriate remedies. The provisional safeguards will be in place for 200 days pending the CITT findings and recommendations.

Under the World Trade Organization Agreement on Safeguards and the Customs Tariff, global safeguard measures may be applied if there is evidence that a product is being imported in such increased quantities, and under such conditions, as to cause or threaten to cause serious injury to domestic producers.

In critical circumstances where delay may cause damage that would be difficult to repair, provisional safeguard measures may be applied for up to 200 days on the basis of a preliminary determination pending the final results of an investigation.

The provisional safeguards announced today will be in the form of a tariff-rate quota, with a 25-per-cent surtax applied to imports of the seven products identified above that exceed a specified quantity threshold.

To facilitate the administration of the tariff-rate quota, the products subject to provisional safeguards will also be added to the Import Control List. Global Affairs Canada will be responsible for administering the quota of products to be imported surtax-free through the issuance of import permits. For additional detailed descriptions and additional information see the Department of Finance Backgrounder