Canada Bolsters Prevention of Transshipment and Diversion of Steel and Aluminum Products Through Country of Origin Marking Regime

May 30, 2018 – Ottawa, Ontario – Department of Finance Canada

The Government of Canada is taking action to support Canadian steel and aluminum workers and industries by further bolstering efforts to prevent transshipment and diversion of unfairly priced foreign steel and aluminum into the North American market.

Today, Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced that Canada has aligned its country of origin marking regime for steel and aluminum products with that of our closest trading partner, the United States. These regulatory changes expand the scope of steel and aluminum products that need to be marked with their country of origin, and amend the criteria used to determine the country of origin for marked goods. Aligning with U.S. requirements will help support effective customs enforcement by ensuring more consistent and predictable treatment of these goods by Canadian and U.S. authorities. These improvements to the marking regime were made following a recent consultation through the Canada Gazette.

Better aligning the marking regime with that of the United States builds on new funding of more than $30 million over five years, starting immediately, and $6.8 million per year thereafter to hire 40 new officers to investigate trade-related complaints, including those related to steel and aluminum, and to improve the accuracy and timeliness of published steel import data. This is in addition to recent regulatory changes that allow the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to identify and stop companies that try to avoid duties, and that give the CBSA greater flexibility in responding to situations where prices charged in the exporter's domestic market are distorted.

The Government of Canada also regularly consults with provincial-territorial representatives, as well as industry and union stakeholders, through recently established trade monitoring committees on steel and aluminum, to ensure imports do not hurt Canadian and North American jobs.

Canada continues to monitor the trade situation closely, and will take additional steps as needed to support our industries. This includes working closely with the steel industry to determine whether any broader trade measures, such as safeguards, may be appropriate to address the diversion of steel into the Canadian market.