Anti-dumping duty set to expire on copper pipe fittings from the U.S., Korea and China

The Canadian International Trade Tribunal gave notice this week that its February 2007 findings concerning the dumping of certain copper pipe fittings from the U.S., Korea and China, and the subsidizing of copper pipe fittings from China were scheduled to expire on February 18, 2012. Such findings, which determine injury to Canadian industry, expire after five years unless an expiry review is initiated before that date.

Parties requesting or opposing the initiation of an expiry review of the said findings must file a notice of participation with the Tribunal on or before April 26, 2011.

Where there are opposing views, each party that filed a submission in response to the notice of expiry will be given an opportunity to respond in writing to the representations of other parties.

An expiry review will not be initiated unless the Tribunal decides that there is sufficient information to indicate that it is warranted.

The Tribunal will issue a decision on June 1, 2011, on whether an expiry review is warranted. If the Tribunal decides that a review is not warranted, the findings will expire on their scheduled expiry date.

If the Tribunal decides to initiate an expiry review, it will issue a notice to this effect.

For additional information please see the Tribunal's Notice of expiry of findings: Expiry No. LE-2011-001.

It should be noted that, on April 8, 2011, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) concluded a re investigation of the normal values and the export prices of the above mentioned goods.

The re-investigation was initiated on December 6, 2010, as part of the CBSA's enforcement of the finding made by the Tribunal in February 2007.

For information: CBSA - Conclusion of Re-investigation of values, prices and/or subsidies.

Canadian trade surplus dropped sharply as exports fell in February

Statistics Canada reports that the country's merchandise exports and imports fell in February, led by lower volumes of automotive products and energy products.

Exports fell 4.9% to $35.9 billion while imports decreased 4.0% to $35.8 billion. Consequently, Canada's trade surplus went from $382 million in January to $33 million in February.

Reduced exports of energy products (-8.1%) and automotive products (-12.4%) were the main contributors to the decline in overall exports.

Falling volumes of automotive products (-12.4%) and energy products (-12.7%) accounted for most of the decline in the value of imports.

Imports from the United States fell 6.1%, reflecting lower imports of automotive products. Exports declined 3.5%, after four consecutive months of growth. Canada's trade surplus with the United States increased from $4.1 billion in January to $4.6 billion in February.

Exports to countries other than the United States fell 8.5%, mostly a result of lower exports of precious metals to the European Union. At the same time, imports declined 0.7%. Thus, Canada's trade deficit with countries other than the United States widened from $3.8 billion in January to $4.5 billion in February.

World trade growth to ease in 2011 as crisis hangover persists says WTO

According to World Trade Organization (WTO) economists, the sharp rise in trade volumes last year enabled world trade to recover to its pre-crisis level, but not to its long-term trend. The recent series of important events around the world lend a greater degree of uncertainty and the WTO forecasts that world trade growth should settle to a 6.5% expansion in 2011, following the record-breaking 14.5% surge in 2010.

The forecast refers to growth in the volume of world trade, i.e., trade in real terms, adjusted for changes in prices and exchange rates. The projection is based on a consensus estimate of global output growth by economic forecasters, who predict a GDP growth rate of 3.1% in 2011 at market exchange rates.

The WTO's short-term outlook is clouded by a number of significant risks factors in addition to the catastrophes in Japan. These include rising prices for food and other primary products, and unrest in major oil exporting countries. Adverse developments in any of these areas could potentially set back the economic recovery and limit the expansion of trade in the coming year.

The full impact of the Japanese disaster is particularly difficult to gauge since it is complicated by a simultaneous nuclear incident, which is hampering relief and rebuilding efforts. The limited amount of research on the economic consequences of natural disasters suggests, however, that the trade impact should be relatively small, especially in the in the medium-to-long term.

Economists say the record expansion of trade and the revival of economic activity in 2010 were certainly welcome developments, but their importance should not be overstated. Despite the rebound, the negative impact of the financial crisis and global recession are likely to persist for some time.

Global Trade Alert: Exporters can be warned as soon as the rules change

Exporters throughout the world now have an interesting tool to be kept aware of rule changes that could affect their shipments.

Global Trade Alert (GTA) provides real-time information on state measures that are likely to affect foreign commerce. It goes beyond other monitoring initiatives by identifying the trading partners likely to be harmed by these measures.

The GTA website allows policy-makers, exporters, the media, and analysts to search the posted government measures by implementing country, by trading partners harmed, and by sector.

Apart from the comprehensive content of its website, GTA offers two kinds of alerts: RSS alerts and Email alerts.

You can generate your own RSS feed by using the convenient RSS Feed Generator. Global Trade Alert offers literally millions of feeds: every combination of implementing country, affected country, sector and tariff line is available as feed.

You can also receive email notifications any time there is new content added to a specific category or to an individual measure. For example, you could get an email notification every time a measure that affects Canada is posted.

GTA is co-ordinated by the Centre for Economic Policy Research, an independent academic and policy research think-tank based in London, UK. GTA draws upon expertise and analysis from 7 independent research institutions around the world.

Have a look: http://www.globaltradealert.org

Technical documents

Government memorandums, notices and decisions.

This page lists newly published government memorandums, notices, regulations and decisions. Clicking on a title will open the document (in a new window) as published by the relevant department or agency on its own Web site.

Canada Border Services Agency

• Message from CBSA re: Scheduled Maintenance Outage (Weekend).
• SIMA - Certain copper pipe fittings from the United States, Korea and China. Conclusion of Re-investigation of values, prices and/or subsidies.
• Goods subject to anti-dumping or countervailing duties. Measures in Force. Last reviewed April 8, 2011.

Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade

• EICB Imports: Textiles and clothing - NAFTA Tariff Preference Level Utilization. Updated April 11.

Canadian Food Inspection Agency

• Fish & Seafood - Certification Requirements - Brazil. Please note that a new version of the Labelling Registration form has been developed. Any exporters whose products were approved prior to April 1, 2011 will need to resubmit their label to be re-approved prior to April 1, 2012.
• Meat Hygiene Directives for 2011:
  - MHD 2011-27 March 28, 2011 Chapter 11 - Section 11.7.3 - Tajikistan
  - MHD 2011-23 March 28, 2011 Chapter 11 - Section 11.7.3 - Vietnam
• Policy TAHD-DSAT-IE-2003-3-7 (Animals) Development of New Import Protocols - Procedures for Clients, April 8, 2011. Amendments: Changes in the address of which the request is to be sent to.
• Policy TAHD-DSAT-IE-2002-13-2 (Live animals) Does the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) Assessment Procedure Apply to This Import? March 30, 2011.
• Directive D-08-05 February 18, 2011 (2nd Revision) Canadian Fruit Tree Export Program (CFTEP) for Malus, Pyrus, Chaenomeles, Cydonia and Prunus spp. Multiple revisions, see directive.
• Directive D-03-02 April 1, 2011 (5th Revision) Canadian Heat Treated Wood Products Certification Program (CHTWPCP). Multiple revisions, see directive.

Canadian International Trade Tribunal

• Expiry No. LE-2011-001 Copper pipe fittings from the United States, Korea and China. Notice of expiry of findings.
• Appeal No. AP-2010-019 HBC Imports c/o Zellers Inc. Classification of hanging shelf organizers.

United States

• USDA Recently Revised Export Requirements & Plant Lists. Canada. (Apr. 12, 2011)
• USTR announces revised FY 2011 tariff-rate quota allocations for raw cane sugar.
• U.S. CBP CSMS# 11-000081 - New AMS Dairy fee system requirements. The Agricutural Marketing Service (AMS) has requested that Customs collect a fee for imported dairy products.