Annual report March 31, 2019 - Chapter I

The Canadian International Trade Tribunal is recognized, both here at home and on the international stage, as a centre of excellence in the fair and timely resolution of trade law matters. The Tribunal is a quasi judicial body which provides Canadian and international businesses with access to fair, transparent and timely trade remedy inquiries, federal government procurement inquiries, and customs and excise tax appeals. At the request of the Government, the Tribunal provides advice in economic and tariff matters.

History of the Tribunal

The Tribunal began operations on December 31, 1988, following the merger of the Tariff Board, the Canadian Import Tribunal and the Textile and Clothing Board. However, its history goes back to the time of Confederation and the Board of Customs, whose appellate mandate was transferred to the Tariff Board in the 1930s. In 1994, the Tribunal absorbed the Procurement Review Board. In 2014, the staff and budget of the Tribunal were transferred to the AdministrativeTribunals Support Service of Canada (ATSSC). Its staff is now part of the CITT Secretariat of the ATSSC.

Trade Remedy Inquiries

The Tribunal plays a significant role within Canada’s trade remedy system. Under SIMA, the Tribunal determines whether the dumping and subsidizing of imported goods cause injury or threaten to cause injury to a domestic industry. The Tribunal issued 27 trade remedies decisions plus one safeguard decision during the fiscal year—compared to 21 the year before. These decisions related primarily to the steel sector, but also concerned products such as silicon metal, gypsum board, and nitisinone capsules. All the decisions were issued within the tight deadlines set out in SIMA.

Dumping occurs when a foreign producer exports at a price that is lower than their normal value (generally, either the domestic selling price of comparable goods in the country of export, or the constructed cost of production of the goods exported to Canada).

Subsidizing occurs when goods imported into Canada benefit from foreign government financial assistance.

Procurement Inquiries

During fiscal year 2018-2019, the Tribunal received 69 complaints pertaining to more than $15 billion in federal procurement. The Tribunal issued 64 decisions on whether to accept complaints for injury. The Tribunal also issued 28 final decisions on merit where complaints were accepted for inquiry. Combined, this represented a total of 92 decisions compared to 93 the year before. All procurement review decisions were issued within legislated deadlines.

Customs and Excise Appeals

A total of 70 appeals were filed (69 under the Customs Act, and one under SIMA) during the reporting period, and 4 extension of time requests were received. The Tribunal issued 20 appeal decisions and one remand decision under the Customs Act. All of the appeals were decided within 120 days of being heard by the Tribunal.

Caseload

The first table below contains statistics pertaining to the Tribunal’s caseload for 2018-2019. The second table contains statistics relating to other case-related activities in 2018-2019. These statistics illustrate the complexity and diversity of the cases considered by the Tribunal.

Tribunal Caseload Overview—2018-2019

Statistics Relating to Case Activities in 2018-2019