OTTAWA — The federal government is taking extra steps to crack down on companies that try to ship cheap foreign steel and aluminum through the Canadian market. The Canada Border Services Agency is being granted extra powers to identify businesses that try to dodge import duties and more flexibility to determine whether prices in countries of origin are reliable or distorted. “We want to protect our steel and aluminum industries and these measures are to ensure that there is no circumvention of Canadian border rules or regulations,” Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said Tuesday. Beginning in mid-April, unions will also be allowed to take part in trade-remedy proceedings, including at the Canadian International Trade Tribunal, into whether foreign exports hurt domestic producers. The regulatory changes come after a period of uncertainty earlier this month over whether the United States would include Canada in its list of countries that would have to pay steep new tariffs on shipments of steel and aluminum to the U.S.

Source: thestar March 27, 2018 16:19 UTC