Regulatory and Compliance News

On May 5, 2021, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) made preliminary determinations of dumping and subsidizing under the Special Import Measures Act (SIMA) of certain upholstered domestic seating originating in or exported from China and Vietnam.

The subject goods are typically classified under the following HS tariff classification numbers:

Please note that the SIMA provisional duties are in addition to any standard MFN duties payable based on the HS Code.

Provisional duties will be payable on the subject goods that are Customs released on or after May 5, 2021 (includes goods which were in-transit to Canada prior to this date). Where amounts of dumping and/or subsidy are considered insignificant, the investigations will continue but provisional duties will not be payable.

The full CBSA Notice of preliminary determinations showing the estimated margins of dumping, estimated amounts of subsidy and total provisional duties owing by exporter can be found in the following Appendix.

The complete product definition of the subject goods can be found in Appendix 1 of the original CBSA notice link.

The Statement of Reasons is also available for additional information about the investigations.

The investigations are continuing and the CBSA must make final determinations or terminate the investigations by August 3, 2021.

Email for subjectivity opinions and duty assessment questions can be sent to:
Trade_Programs-Programmes_commerciaux@cbsa-asfc.gc.ca.

Prior to submitting a subjectivity opinion request, please review the ‘detailed product information’. Each request must be supported with essential information including, but not limited to, pictures, mill certificates, measurements, origin of the goods, etc. in relation to the specific product in question.

Failure to provide sufficient information will result in a rejection of the request by the CBSA.

Schenker is here to assist you with any questions you may have and provide support with this process. We can analyze your imports to see if the goods you have imported may be part of the subject list.

Please contact our Consulting team consulting.canada@dbschenker.com

Download: CBSA__Certain Upholstered Domestic Seating_Notice of Preliminary Determinations_May 5, 2021

As of March 15, 2021, food importers of meat, fish, dairy, eggs, processed eggs, processed fruits or vegetables, honey, maple and fresh fruits or vegetables are required to correctly declare their valid Safe Food for Canadians (SFC) licence to CFIA to import food into Canada.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has advised that import transactions will be rejected automatically unless a valid Safe Food for Canadians (SFC) licence is entered in the Single Window Integrated Import Declaration (IID). The SFC licence holder may experience delays and have their related food shipment(s) held at the border until the error is addressed and the import transaction is resubmitted.

The following criteria must be met or food import transactions will be rejected:

1. the importer’s Safe Food for Canadians (SFC) licence number must be correctly declared, without mistakes or typos
2. the importer’s SFC licence must cover the activity of “Importing Food”
3. the importer’s SFC licence must cover the food commodity or commodities you intend to import

Imports of food categorized as manufactured foods such as confectionary, snack foods, beverages, coffee and tea, oils, dried herbs and spices, nuts and seeds, processed grain-based foods such as baked goods, cereals and pasta will NOT be affected.

You must obtain your SFC licence to import before presenting your shipment at the border, as you will not be able to obtain one at the border. If you currently hold a licence, review your licence profile in My CFIA portal to ensure that your licence has been issued for the activity of "Importing" and for the food commodity or commodities you intend to import.

License Validation Message

• English
• French

Useful references for food importers:

Importing food into Canada with a Safe Food for Canadians license

What to consider before applying for a Safe Food for Canadians license.

Refer to Annex A for more information on food commodities, including examples of the types of food included in each sub-commodity.

Information for Non-resident Importers

Download

SFCR License Requirements_March 15, 2021

On December 22, 2020, the Canada Border Services Agency published the United Kingdom Trade Continuity Remission Order (the Order).

The Order states that effective January 1, 2021, the United Kingdom (UK) and particular associated territories will no longer be covered by the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) by way of Brexit, but can still preserve the CETA duty rates for qualifying imports from the UK. These goods would now have to be accounted under the Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) tariff treatment.

To continue to benefit from the remission of duties, importers must instead cite the Remission Order #20-1135 on their B3, Canada Customs Coding Form. The remission applies to qualifying goods until the day on which the new Canada-United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement (CUKTCA) enters into force.

To qualify for the remission, importers must ensure that the products still meet the rules of origin under the CETA agreement and are responsible to obtain documentation in support of the claim for remission under the Order.

Any importers who have goods originating from the UK, which were in transit to Canada prior to January 1, 2021, may still claim the CEUT preferential tariff treatment.

For additional information, please access the full CBSA Customs Notice 20-39.

Schenker is here to assist you with any questions or concerns you may have and provide support.

Please contact our client services team schenkercustoms.cs@dbschenker.com

Download
Customs Notice 20-39: United Kingdom Trade Continuity Remission Order

On December 21, 2020, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) initiated investigations under the Special Import Measures Act (SIMA) regarding the dumping and subsidizing of certain upholstered domestic seating originating in or exported from China and Vietnam.

The investigation is a result of a complaint filed by Palliser Furniture Ltd. (Winnipeg, MB), and supported by several other companies.

The subject goods are typically classified under the following HS tariff classification numbers:

9401.40.00.00
9401.61.10.10
9401.61.10.90
9401.71.10.10
9401.71.10.90

The complete product definition of the subject goods can be found in Appendix 1 of this CBSA notice link.

The Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) has begun preliminary injury inquiry to determine whether such imports are causing harm to Canadian producers. A decision will be issued by February 19, 2021. The CBSA is also simultaneously investigating whether the imports are currently being sold in Canada at unfair and/or subsidized prices. Their preliminary decision will be made by March 22, 2021.

If the CITT determines that the goods are causing injury, and CBSA determines that the goods are dumped and/or subsidized, there may be provisional duty applied to future shipments. If no injury, dumping or subsidizing is determined, the investigations will be terminated.

Some importers may have already received a letter from CBSA, identifying them as a potential importer of the subject goods. The request would include submission of an Importer Request for Information (RFI) with necessary product information by a defined timeline in order to establish the normal value and export price of the subject goods.

Submissions by any parties who are opposed to the complaint must be filed by no later than noon (EST), on January 18, 2021. The complainant and supporting parties may make submissions in response to the submissions of parties opposed to the complaint not later than noon (EST), on January 25, 2021.

Detailed information can be found in the CITT Notice Of Preliminary Injury Inquiry.

The Statement of Reasons is also available for additional information about the investigations.

Schenker is here to assist you with any questions you may have and provide support with this process. We can analyze your imports to see if the goods you have imported may be part of the subject list.

Please contact our client services team schenkercustoms.cs@dbschenker.com

Download
CBSA_Initiation of Investigations_Certain Upholstered Domestic Seating

The United States has made a unilateral decision to drop the 10% tariffs on Canadian non-alloyed unwrought aluminum exports to the U.S., retroactive to September 1, 2020. The US expects that trade of these goods will normalize in the last four months of 2020. The US set monthly targets for acceptable volumes of aluminum imports from Canada without tariffs and may re-impose the tariffs if shipment volumes exceed 105% of the monthly shipment volumes.

Canada was prepared to impose 10% Surtax countermeasures on various US aluminum import products, effective September 16, 2020, but has since withdrawn this planned retaliation. The Canadian Government has declared to the USTR (United States Trade Representative), that if they were to impose tariffs in the future, Canada will retaliate with dollar-for-dollar reciprocal countermeasures.

For further details, reference the below source links:

USTR Statement on Canadian Aluminum

CBC News: U.S. calls off tariffs on Canadian aluminum —for now

Download

Aluminum Tariffs Dropped_Sept 15, 2020

President Donald Trump has announced that he will restore a 10% tariff on certain Canadian aluminum imports into the U.S. effective August 16, 2020. These surtaxes are similar to the tariffs that were imposed in July 2018 and later eliminated in May 2019.

In response, Canada will impose dollar-for-dollar surtax countermeasures against imports of aluminum and aluminum-containing products originating from the U.S.

Certain Canadian importers and exporters will be affected by these regulatory measures, as a 10% surtax will be applicable on subject goods, effective September 16, 2020. The surtaxes will not be applicable to U.S. goods which are in transit to Canada on the day when they come into force.
 

A potential list of aluminum products has been proposed by Global Affairs Canada and Finance Canada, from which the goods subject to surtax will be drawn from.

Some of these goods include the following:

• Aluminum ore, wire and plates
• Aluminum structures and parts
• Aluminum beverage cans
• Household appliances like refrigerators and washing machines
• Household items like tinfoil, pots and scouring pads
• Sports equipment like bicycles and golf clubs
• Construction material like nails, staples and screws
• Metal furniture

Canadian businesses will have until September 6, 2020 to submit written comments, inquiries and concerns to fin.tariff-tarif.fin@canada.ca to support with their feedback to the Government of Canada, or request for any exclusions of the goods on the potential tariff list.

For further details, reference the source link: Government of Canada

What actions should affected companies take?

• Assess the impact of the new surtaxes on your imports and exports
• Evaluate any affected goods against new potential sourcing strategies to avoid the additional surtaxes
• Examine any trade related risks associated with existing contracts with your suppliers and customers

How can Schenker help?

• Conduct an impact analysis against your import commodities to assess whether your goods are affected
• Review your HS codes to identify any potential tariff misclassifications resulting in lower duties
• If you meet the requirements of the Duties Relief or Duty Drawback programs, you may be eligible for refunds, including surtaxes, which we can assist you with recovering.

Contact our Client Services or Consulting teams for assistance

• Client Services (KAMs): schenkercustoms.cs@dbschenker.com
• Customs Trade Consulting: consulting.canada@dbschenker.com

Download

Canada's Countermeasures on US Aluminum Tariffs

CUSMA will enter into force on July 1, 2020, replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). There will be no transition period. Currently used NAFTA Certificates of Origin will no longer be valid for imports after June 30, 2020.

CBSA has made some recent changes to Single Window, which affect all brokers and importers transmitting entries via the Integrated Import Declaration (IID).

The SWI IID Regulated Commodities Data Element Matching Criteria Tables (follow link) can be utilized by Trade Chain Partners to identify any commodities, which are regulated or co-regulated by one or multiple Participating Government Departments or Agencies (PGAs) programs. The referenced tables should be used in combination with Chapter 23 of the SWI IID Electronic Commerce Client Requirements Document (ECCRD) to ensure that all mandatory importation data and LPCO (License, Permit, Certificate and Other) images are presented.

Please consider that the HS classification codes are not the only determining factor in whether a commodity is regulated by a PGA program(s). Additional commodity codes such as Intended Use Codes (IUC), Canadian Product Category Codes (CPC), and LPCOs may also be required.

Download

Changes to ECCRD-Data Element Matching Tables download

CBSA has announced a phased decommissioning approach to the CBSA Accelerated Commercial Release Operations Support System (ACROSS). The decommissioning plan has been updated to reflect the initial go live date of April 1st to the new date of October 2019.

CBSA’s expectations have not changed and they are encouraging the Trade Chain Partners to continue submitting via SWI IID in order to increase transactional volumes and to avoid any potential delays at the border.

Schenker of Canada Limited will be moving forward with the implementation of SWI as of April 1st and will continue to move forward to CBSA’s requirement to transmit SWI data via the IID release process.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact us at Schenker.cs@dbschenker.com

Download

SWI decommissioning plan of the CBSA

Please be advised effective January 15, 2019 there will be changes to the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR)

They have implementation a new licensing requirements which may impact your food imports into Canada.

The SFCR has implemented this new regulation to ensure food safety by consolidating 14 sets of regulations into 1.

This will allow them to focus on risk management and prevention of unsafe food in the market place.

The regulations will require licensing as well as well preventive controls.  CFIA has announced a phased in approach for additional requirements over a 12 – 30 month time period depending on the type of food, type of activity and size of your business.

We encourage you to visit & review the listed links and their associated websites, which contain additional information on this important initiative. 

CFIA - Safe Food for Canadians Regulations

http://inspection.gc.ca/food/sfcr/eng/1512149177555/1512149203296

Getting started: Toolkit for businesses

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/sfcr/toolkit-for-businesses/eng/1427299500843/1427299800380

CFIA Timelines & Interactive Tools

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/sfcr/timelines/eng/1528199762125/1528199763186

Customs Notice 19-01: Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)'s Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR) coming into force on January 15, 2019

https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/cn-ad/cn19-01-eng.html