Weekly Trade Briefing: Feb. 21 – 25, 2022

Trade Update • FEBRUARY 27, 2021

Aweekly roundup of news reports, government announcements, and other information about current and emerging developments in international trade and customs compliance.

New Services for Fertilizer and Supplement Industry Added to My CFIA

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is reminding the fertilizer and supplement industry sectors that all product registration activities can now be handled through its My CFIA online facility including the ability submit and pay to re-register or amend existing registrations. These new services are additional to those already existing for product registration, which were launched in 2020. Fertilizer and supplement industry sectors are encouraged to sign up now for a My CFIA account to take advantage of these and other online services available, such as obtaining import permits for plants and animals and animal by-products.

CITT Finds Dumped Chinese Container Chassis Injuring Canadian Industry

The Canadian International Trade Tribunal on Feb. 18 announced its finding that the dumping and subsidizing of certain container chassis, originating in or exported from China, have caused injury to the domestic industry. Anti-dumping and countervailing duties (126.4% and 20.4%, respectively) will therefore be collected by the Canada Border Services Agency on imports of the subject goods from China. The Tribunal’s inquiry and finding follow the CBSA’s issuance of a final determination of dumping and subsidizing dated Jan. 19, 2022.

UK Moves a Step Closer to Joining CPTPP

The UK has recently announced that it has reached what its International Trade Department is calling “a major milestone” in its bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership; a free trade area worth £8.4 trillion to the UK economy. Moving to the final stage of the CPTPP accession process “means the UK has demonstrated to members of the partnership that we are a high-standards, fair trading economy,” a DIT statement said. CPTPP became a trade bloc in 2018 comprised of founding members Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. Alongside the UK, China, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand have expressed an interest in joining the CPTPP.

Chamber Sees Improvement in Global IP Environment

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Innovation Policy Center on Thursday released its 2022 International IP Index, “Compete for Tomorrow,” which is now in its tenth edition. The United States once again remains in the top spot, with an overall score on the Index of 95.48%. The United Kingdom (94.14%), Germany (92.46%), Sweden (92.14%) and France (92.10%) are in spots 2-5. Canada ranked 16th (75.24), a slight improvement over last year’s overall score. The Index covers 55 global economies, with Ghana and Honduras just added for the 2022 report. In a related blog post, the Chamber outlines “the top five findings lawmakers and stakeholders should consider as they pursue constructive agendas that promote innovation and creativity.”

USTR Considering Section 301 Penalties Over Canadian DST

The Biden administration on Tuesday warned the Canadian government that its planned digital services tax would be actionable under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which would allow the U.S. to impose retaliatory tariffs on Canadian goods. The U.S. “has serious concerns about measures that single out American firms for taxation while effectively excluding national firms engaged in similar lines of business,” the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in comments submitted to Canada on the proposed DST. The USTR noted that Canada’s proposed tax parallels those adopted by other countries that have already been found to be discriminatory to U.S. commerce.

USITC Makes Affirmative Determinations of Dumped/Subsidized Barium Chloride and Sodium Nitrite from India

In two votes on Feb. 25, the United States International Trade Commission determined that there is a reasonable indication that a domestic industry is materially injured by reason of imports of barium chloride and sodium nitrite from India that are allegedly subsidized and sold in the United States at less than fair value. As a result,  Commerce will continue its investigations with preliminary countervailing duty determinations due on or about April 8, 2022, and its preliminary antidumping duty determinations due on or about June 22, 2022.