New York - A dispute panel of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) this week largely ruled in favour of Taiwan on its complaint over anti-dumping duties imposed by Canada on some of its steel goods.
The ruling, related to certain carbon steel welded pipes and certain provisions of Canada’s underlying legislation, found that Canada had contravened the WTO’s Anti-Dumping Agreement but that Taiwan had failed to establish some points.
Canada slapped duties on some imports of carbon steel welded pipes from Taiwan in 2012. Taiwan complained to the WTO in January last year.
The annual value of Taiwan’s exports of carbon steel welded pipes to Canada dropped from around $19 million before the anti-dumping duties were imposed to around $5 million, Taiwan officials said at the time of the filing.
A spokesman for Canadian Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland said Canada would review the decision before deciding whether to appeal. Both sides have 60 days to decide whether to appeal against any of the panel’s findings.
“Canada takes its WTO trade obligations seriously and is also committed to maintaining a strong trade remedy system,” spokesman Alex Lawrence said.
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The panel found Canada acted inconsistently with certain obligations under the WTO and recommended the country bring its measures into conformity.
Taiwanese trade officials welcomed the ruling, but expect Canada would appeal against the decision. “In our filing, we requested the Canadian government to amend its laws,” said Jack Hsiao, of the trade negotiation office of Taiwan’s cabinet.
He added that Canadian regulations regarding dumping investigations were problematic and if their appeal was rejected Canada would need to revise its rules.
Joseph Galimberti, president of the Canadian Steel Producers Association, said the group was “disappointed but not surprised” by the ruling. “We would not want to speculate on an amount of business which Canadian companies could conceivably lose out on or how market shares would shift as a result.”