Introduction
The purpose of this notice is to outline the standard method used to estimate the volume of imports and sales of imports for investigation reports issued in injury inquiries and expiry reviews pursuant to the Special Import Measures Act (SIMA).
Imports and sales of imports are estimated using replies to Tribunal Producer and Importer questionnaires, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) facility for information retrieval management (FIRM)1 value data, and, in the case of expiry reviews, CBSA enforcement data for measures in place. The Tribunal requests questionnaire replies from all known domestic producers and from a sample of importers that represent a high share of the CBSA FIRM value data for Harmonized System (HS) code(s) applicable to the inquiry or expiry review.
The value for duty2 in CBSA FIRM data for the HS code(s) specified for the goods under investigation is used to identify and select importers who are then requested to reply to the Tribunal’s importer questionnaire. Importers are selected so as to achieve the highest percentage of FIRM value for each year or partial year of the Tribunal’s period of inquiry or review, taking into account the number of importers that can reasonably be surveyed. A separate selection and estimation exercise is performed for each subject country and each individual or group of non-subject countries, as applicable.
While this document sets out how this information is typically used to determine the volumes of imports and sales of imports published in the investigation report, it does not limit or detract from the discretion of the Tribunal to direct staff to apply the methodology appropriate in each individual case.
Standard method for determining the volume of imports
The volume of imports from subject and non-subject sources3 shown in an investigation report is determined as follows.
| Injury inquiry | Expiry review | |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic producers | Sum of import volumes reported in replies to Tribunal Producer questionnaires. | Sum of import volumes reported in replies to Tribunal Producer questionnaires. |
| Importers | An estimate using replies to Tribunal Importer questionnaires and CBSA FIRM value data as described below | CBSA enforcement data for volumes of imports for measure(s) in place5. |
| Injury inquiry | Expiry review | |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic producers | Sum of import volumes reported in replies to Tribunal Producer questionnaires. | Sum of import volumes reported in replies to Tribunal Producer questionnaires. |
| Importers | An estimate using replies to Tribunal Importer questionnaires and CBSA FIRM value data as described below. | An estimate using replies to Tribunal Importer questionnaires and CBSA FIRM value data as described below. |
Estimates of volume of imports by importers using replies to Tribunal Importer questionnaires and CBSA FIRM value data are performed as follows:
- An importer that submits a reply to the Tribunal’s importer questionnaire is considered “surveyed” for the subsequent steps in the estimation exercise. This includes any importer that responds indicating that it did not import goods corresponding to the product definition from any source. An importer that does not reply to the Tribunal’s importer questionnaire or that was not selected to receive a questionnaire is considered “non-surveyed” for the subsequent steps of the estimation exercise.
- Total import volumes shown in the investigation report are prepared using replies to the Tribunal’s importer questionnaire and the FIRM value for surveyed and non-surveyed importers, as follows:
- The total value of imports reported in the questionnaire replies from surveyed importers (A) is divided by the total FIRM value for surveyed importers (B) to create an adjustment factor (A/B) that represents the share of FIRM value that consists of the goods within the product definition for the surveyed importers4.
- The adjustment factor (A/B) is then multiplied by the FIRM value for non-surveyed importers (C) to estimate a value of the goods under the product definition for those non-surveyed importers (D). The use of this adjustment factor assumes that the share of FIRM value data represented by the goods under the product definition is the same for non-surveyed importers as for surveyed importers.
- This value (D) is then divided by the weighted average unit net delivered purchase value of imports reported by surveyed importers in their questionnaire replies (E) to estimate the volume of imports for non-surveyed importers (F).
- This volume (F) is added to the reported volume of imports from questionnaire replies (G) to derive an estimate of the total import volume (H).
| Step | Calculation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| (Value of imports in questionnaire replies (A)/FIRM value for surveyed importers (B)) (adjustment factor) | A/B | $15,000 / $20,000 or 0.75 (adjustment factor) |
| FIRM value for non-surveyed importers | C | $10,000 |
| Estimated value of imports of goods under the product definition for non-surveyed importers (D) | (A/B)*C = D | $7,500 |
| Weighted average unit net delivered purchase value of imports from questionnaire replies (E) | E | $20/ tonne |
| Estimated volume of imports of goods under the product definition for non-surveyed importers (F) | D/E = F | 375 tonnes ($7,500 /$20) |
| Volume of imports from questionnaire replies (G) | G | 750 tonnes |
| Estimated total import volume (H) | F+G = H | 1,125 tonnes |
Standard method for determining the volume of sales of imports
The volume of sales of imports from subject and non-subject sources shown in an investigation report is determined as follows.
| Injury inquiry | Expiry review | |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic producers | Sum of sales of import volumes reported in replies to Tribunal Producer questionnaires. | Sum of sales of import volumes reported in replies to Tribunal Producer questionnaires. |
| Importers | An estimate using replies to Tribunal Importer questionnaires and CBSA FIRM value data as described below | CBSA enforcement data for volumes of imports for measure(s) in place. |
| Injury inquiry | Expiry review | |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic producers | Sum of sales of import volumes reported in replies to Tribunal Producer questionnaires. | Sum of sales of import volumes reported in replies to Tribunal Producer questionnaires. |
| Importers | An estimate using replies to Tribunal Importer questionnaires and CBSA FIRM value data as described below. | An estimate using replies to Tribunal Importer questionnaires and CBSA FIRM value data as described below. |
Estimates of volume of sales of imports by importers are prepared using replies to Tribunal Importer questionnaires and CBSA FIRM value data as follows:
- The estimated volume of imports of goods corresponding to the product definition by non-surveyed importers, as described above, is added to the reported volume of sales of imports from surveyed importers6, to derive an estimate of total sales of imports.
- This is summarized in the table below.
| Step | Calculation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Estimated volume of imports of goods under the product definition for non-surveyed importers (F) (as previously calculated) | F | 375 tonnes |
| Volume of sales of imports from questionnaire replies (I) | I | 700 tonnes |
| Estimated total sales of imports volume (J) | F+I=J | 1,075 tonnes |
- Sales by trade-level data (i.e. sales to distributors or sales to end users) are taken directly from replies to Tribunal importer questionnaires and contain no estimate for non-surveyed importers.
Deviation from the standard methodology
In some cases, the circumstances of a particular injury inquiry or expiry review warrant an approach different from the standard methodology. The following are examples of such circumstances:
- Importers completing a Tribunal importer questionnaire represent close to 100% of the importers listed in the CBSA FIRM data. In such a case, the volume of imports and sales of imports may be taken as the sum of questionnaire replies without estimating a volume for non-surveyed importers.
- The applicable HS codes for a SIMA injury inquiry or expiry review cover a wide variety of goods outside of the product definition, making estimation unreliable as the vast number of importers included in the FIRM value do not import the goods covered by the product definition. In such a case an alternative approach may be used, such as a survey of known importers of the goods corresponding to the product definition and using the sum of their questionnaire replies without estimating a volume for non-surveyed importers.
- The CBSA enforcement data is not reported in the unit of measure used in the investigation report. An estimate of the volume of imports of subject goods may be performed using replies to Tribunal questionnaires and CBSA FIRM value data.
Where adjustments or changes in the standard methodology are used in a particular injury inquiry or expiry review, they are noted in the investigation report.