Certain Concrete Reinforcing Bar, Notice of Initiation of Section 20 Inquiry

On August 19, 2016, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) initiated an investigation pursuant to subsection 31(1) of the Special Import Measures Act(SIMA) concerning the alleged injurious dumping of certain concrete reinforcing bar (rebar) originating in or exported from the Republic of Belarus (Belarus), Chinese Taipei, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, Japan, the Portuguese Republic and the Kingdom of Spain.

SIMA has special provisions concerning the treatment of products where the government of the country of export has a monopoly of its export trade, and where domestic prices are substantially determined by the government and there is reason to believe that they may not be the same as they would be if they were determined in a competitive market.

Information on the administrative record for the investigation indicates that there is reason to believe that the government of Belarus plays a significant role in the rebar sector in Belarus. Information provided by the complainants indicates that the majority of all industry in Belarus is state controlled. In response to a CBSA Request for Information (RFI), OJSC Byelorussian Steel Works (BMZ), the only known producer of rebar in Belarus, identified itself as a state owned enterprise, wholly-owned by the government of Belarus.

This 7 November 2016 CBSA notice is available in its entirety at: http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/sima-lmsi/i-e/rb22016/rb22016-s20-eng.html