A message from the Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson
June 28, 2024
We are pleased to present the annual report of the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (Tribunal), for the period of April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024. This report covers the Tribunal’s activities, highlights and successes from the past year.
Canadian companies rely on the Tribunal to investigate whether the dumping and subsidizing of imports has caused injury to the domestic industry, to hear customs and excise appeals, and to decide on government procurement complaints. The Tribunal is an independent, quasi-judicial body with the same powers, rights and privileges as a superior court of record for matters necessary or proper for the due exercise of its jurisdiction. The Tribunal offers businesses and Canadians impartial recourse in customs and trade matters, including ensuring that trade agreements are complied with. The Tribunal, supported by Secretariat staff, works hard to excel in delivering on these responsibilities.
This year again, the Tribunal’s caseload remained high. The number of dumping and subsidizing expiry reviews initiated this year greatly increased due to the new trade remedy findings adopted in recent years and now scheduled for review. Although the Tribunal received slightly fewer procurement complaints, the proportion of those accepted for inquiry grew. This tested the Tribunal’s capacity to a significant extent, especially in light of delays in appointments and renewals of Tribunal members, coupled with resource constraints.
Despite these challenges, the Tribunal diligently fulfilled its core mandates. The dedication of the Secretariat’s staff has been crucial in helping us stay on schedule and meet statutory deadlines. The Tribunal, along with the Secretariat, remain focused on improving operations and streamlining processes to ensure that we are able to continue to execute on our mandates efficiently and effectively.
The Tribunal has resumed in-person hearings, particularly for trade remedy cases. To promote access to justice, the Tribunal is improving its ability to conduct virtual and hybrid hearings. These types of hearings provide the greatest possible access to proceedings for parties, intervenors and witnesses, regardless of their location or financial means.
Even though the Tribunal received fewer procurement complaints last year, what’s noteworthy is the growing number of self-represented parties filing complaints with the Tribunal. Of the 66 complaints filed this year, 51 were filed by self-represented parties. This pushed the Tribunal to find solutions to ensure access to justice for self-represented parties across its procurement and appeals mandates.
We continue to face tight legislative deadlines under our trade remedy and procurement mandates. Along with capacity challenges, our heavy workload and tight deadlines have kept us from meeting our internal service standard of 120 days for issuing appeals decisions. We remain fully committed to issuing these appeals decisions as early as is feasible for the Tribunal.
This year, the Tribunal has continued to maintain its dialogue with international counterparts. The Tribunal’s Chairperson attended, as a panellist, the World Trade Organization workshop for heads of investigation authorities in Geneva in May 2023. During this key international meeting, the Chairperson and the Chief Economist, Greg Gallo, had fruitful discussions with foreign counterparts, including those from the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, Brazil, India and Australia. In addition, the Tribunal’s Vice-Chairperson, Bree Jamieson-Holloway, and Member Cheryl Beckett attended the Georgetown University International Trade Update in Washington in June 2023. This significant international gathering provided them with the opportunity to engage in meaningful conversations with key counterparts from the United States.
The Tribunal is pleased to have welcomed Susana Lee as Member during the past year. With over a decade of experience in trade remedies, she brings valuable expertise to the Tribunal. Her five-year term began on January 29, 2024. We also welcome the renewal of members Beckett, Bujold and Beaubien for a second term of five years.
As we look ahead to the 2024–25 fiscal year, we do so with enthusiasm and, as always, a commitment to serving parties and the Canadian public. We will continue to maintain our focus on the same strategic priorities, acknowledging their significance and recognizing the ongoing need for progress in each area.
Striving for excellence: our core and unchanging priority
The Tribunal excels in trade remedy inquiries, customs appeals and procurement complaints, enjoying a strong reputation domestically and internationally for its rigorous contributions to Canada’s trade obligations. We will continue to adopt measures to uphold our credibility and leadership.
Strengthening economic analysis
We will continue to enhance our economic analysis capacity, particularly for trade remedy inquiries, ensuring that our conclusions are based on the most solid, evidence-based analysis. The Tribunal and its secretariat will develop and implement strategies to strengthen this capacity through the Trade Remedies Investigation Branch.
Access to justice and equity, diversity and inclusion
Ensuring access to justice is vital for the Tribunal. We will continue to prioritize and enhance accessibility, particularly for self-represented parties. Additionally, we are committed to fostering a workplace that values diversity in people, experiences and ideas.
By maintaining these strategic priorities, we can build on the progress made over the past year and further our mission to better serve all Canadians.
The future remains uncertain with respect to the evolution of trade relations and how it could have an impact on the Tribunal’s future caseload. Despite facing tighter budgetary constraints, we continue to endeavour to execute our mandates with dedication and excellence. We remain committed to serving Canadians by upholding the fair, transparent and timely administration of both domestic and international trade regulations.
Frédéric Seppey
Chairperson
Bree Jamieson-Holloway
Vice-Chairperson