The Department of Finance didn't inform the Canadian International Trade Tribunal investigating the merits of its emergency safeguards on foreign steel when it quietly signed an agreement to allow more Mexican steel to enter Canada without paying the surtax. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed on Jan.16 set new quotas for energy tubular products (such as those used to build pipelines) and wire rod imports from Mexico only. Between Jan. 7 and 24, the trade tribunal was holding hearings to gather evidence for an eventual recommendation to the minister on whether to continue with emergency safeguards on steel, which otherwise expire after 200 days. Mexico strongly objected to surtaxLast fall, emergency safeguards were imposed on seven specific kinds of foreign steel using an emergency tool the finance minister had never deployed before. Emergency safeguards to prevent the dumping of cheap foreign steel were part of their strategy.

Source: CBC News February 23, 2019 09:00 UTC