Government Announces Further Measures to Protect Canadian Steel Workers and Industry

July 18, 2019 – Ottawa, Ontario – Department of Finance Canada

The Government of Canada is committed to making sure that the steel industry — and the people and communities who rely on it — are able to compete and succeed, and are not harmed by unfairly traded steel imports.

Today, the Government is announcing further action to stand up for Canadian steel workers and producers. First, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) will update its policy to allow anti-dumping levels to be reviewed more frequently, which will provide effective and up-to-date protection in the face of changing market circumstances. Other policy changes by the CBSA will also result in greater transparency. The CBSA and Global Affairs Canada are also taking steps to enhance the verification of steel import data. These measures build on the recent action taken by the Government to provide more flexibility to further protect Canadian workers from harmful import surges.

As well, the Government is introducing amendments to Canada’s trade remedy regulations. These new measures will soon be subject to consultations for 15 days following their pre-publication in the Canada Gazette, Part I. These regulatory amendments would provide greater flexibility to the CBSA to calculate appropriate levels of anti-dumping duties in situations where there are price distortions.

These measures are the result of a consultation process with industry producers and workers launched on April 26, 2019, to determine ways to improve Canada’s trade remedy and import monitoring regimes. They build on steps already taken by the Government to address unfair trade, including legislative and regulatory amendments introduced in April 2018 to enhance the effectiveness of Canada’s trade remedy system, as well as additional funding to strengthen the CBSA’s trade investigations and enforcement capacity. 

The Government is considering additional improvements to Canada’s trade remedy system and import monitoring regime, in consultation with industry and workers, all with the goal of protecting and creating good Canadian jobs.