Goods imported into Canada are generally only subject to assessment of ordinary customs duty and goods and services tax or harmonized sales tax. However, during the course of any year, certain imported goods face the additional assessment of anti-dumping and/or countervailing duties because they have been found to have caused injury or retardation to a Canadian domestic industry or because they threaten to cause injury by virtue of being dumped or subsidized.
Two Canadian government bodies, the Canada Border Services Agency and the Canadian International Trade Tribunal, administer the Special Import Measures Act (SIMA) and the Special Import Measures Regulations (SIMR), Canada’s laws that deal with anti-dumping and countervailing duties. The SIMA and the SIMR contain 98 sections and 58 regulations, respectively, of complex legal rules. This book is designed to provide a brief but thorough outline of the principal elements of Canada’s anti-dumping and anti-subsidy legislation, including amendments to the SIMA and the SIMR that came into force in April 2018. However, any person involved in proceedings under the SIMA should seek the guidance of an experienced, Canadian trade lawyer as to the application of the law.