Pursuant to subsection 37.1(1) of the Special Import Measures Act, on February 3, 2015, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) determined that there is reasonable evidence that the dumping and subsidizing of photovoltaic modules and laminates from China have caused injury or are threatening to cause injury to the domestic industry.
The CITT’s preliminary injury inquiry followed the notification, on December 5, 2014, that the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) had initiated an anti-dumping and countervail investigation into imports of solar panels and solar modules from China. The CBSA will now continue its inquiry into whether the goods are being sold at dumped or subsidized prices, and is expected to issue a preliminary determination of dumping and subsidy on March 5, 2014. To conduct its inquiry, the CBSA will request information from importers, exporters, and the foreign government (in the case of a subsidy investigation), and may visit these entities to verify responses. Exporters who participate in the investigation can obtain exporter specific “normal values”, which will determine the amount of duty owing if the CITT makes a final determination of injury. Exporters who do not participate will be required to pay a non-cooperative rate of duty, which may be significantly higher.
If the CBSA makes a preliminary determination of dumping or subsidy on March 5, 2015, imported goods will be subject to a provisional duty that will be in effect from the date of the CBSA’s preliminary determination until the CITT issues its final injury decision. The CBSA will make its final determination of dumping and/or subsidy within 90 days of its preliminary determination. The CITT will concurrently undertake its inquiry as to whether there has been material injury, and will issue a final determination within 120 days of the CBSA’s preliminary determination of dumping and/or subsidy.
Chinese solar imports are currently subject to duties in Europe and the US. The CITT preliminary inquiry ruling brings Canada one step closer towards imposing anti-dumping and subsidizing duties in Canada.