COVID-19 and the Risk of Foreign Investor Challenges
Michael Woods was quoted in the September issue of the Canadian Bar Association’s online magazine, National, about concerns that the global COVID-19 pandemic might lead to investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) claims aimed at government measures put in place in response to the challenge. Michael has experience form both the government and investor perspective and has served as counsel in several ISDS cases pursuant to NAFTA Chapter 11 as wells as Foreign Investment Protection Agreements...
read moreMichael Woods quoted in South China Morning Post on China and the CPTPP
Michael Woods was interviewed with respect to China’s recent expression of interest in joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). The article can be found at this link:...
read moreCanada should consider the Economic Impact of Imposing AD/CV Duties on Imports and should start with OCTG
Canadian practice has been to consider Anti-dumping/Countervailing measures (AD/CV) measures exclusively from the perspective of the domestic industry that filed the dumping complaint and ensure that any injury to this industry is offset using AD/CV duties. However, this approach does not necessarily take the best interests of the Canadian economy as a whole into consideration. That practice should stop and Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) is the product that calls out for this change....
read moreProving FTA preferential tariff eligibility: The evidentiary burden in Canada
Jean-Marc Clément Counsel, Woods LaFortune Montréal, Canada As is the case with most free trade agreements, importers simply claim preferential tariff eligibility at the time of import. This claim can later be subject to verification by the customs administration in view of determining if it was valid. Proving preferential tariff entitlement requires assembling and presenting relevant facts and documents that support the claim. But just how much evidence is necessary in order to discharge...
read moreWoods, LaFortune LLP to Attend CETA Civil Society Forum
Woods, LaFortune LLP has been invited by the Trade Agreements Secretariat at Global Affairs Canada to participate in the Civil Society Forum on Trade and Sustainable Development under the Canada-European Union (EU) Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). Michael Woods will attend on behalf of the firm. The event is to take place in Ottawa on November 12, 2019. The Forum is facilitated jointly by the Government of Canada and the European Union and...
read moreMichael Woods to Speak at CANDO Annual Conference
Michael Woods is scheduled to appear on an expert panel at the Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers (CANDO) Annual Conference in Gatineau Québec on October 30, 2019. CANDO is a Canadian Aboriginal-controlled, community-based, and membership driven organization focusing on education and professional development for economic development officers working in Aboriginal communities and organizations. Michael will be part of a panel examining “Economic Development Opportunities in Indigenous International Trade” and he will share...
read moreMichael Woods Speaks at IITIO Conference – “The Indigenous Chapter is Very Much Alive.”
Michael Woods joined the head of the Government of Canada’s Trade Law Bureau, Robert Brookfield, Professor Lindsay Robertson of the University of Oklahoma and Professor James Hopkins of the University of Arizona on a panel to discuss the Indigenous elements in the Canada United States Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) and the consultative process between the Government of Canada and Canada’s Indigenous communities during the NAFTA renegotiations which were launched in 2017. This was the 7th...
read moreCanada Should Revisit Safeguard Measures on Stainless Steel Wire
The Minister of Finance should reconsider the decision to impose safeguard measures on imports of stainless steel wire because the recent agreement between Canada and the U.S. to remove their respective duties on each other’s steel, calls into question the Canadian International Trade Tribunal’s (CITT) threat of injury finding against stainless steel wire imports which underpins the Minister’s decision. On May 10, 2019, the Minister imposed safeguard measures on imports of stainless steel wire...
read moreSteel Safeguards: CITT Announces a Product Exclusion Process for Stainless Steel Wire and Heavy Plate
On May 16, 2019, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) announced that it was initiating a Product Exclusion Review to determine whether any imports of stainless steel wire or heavy plate should be excluded from safeguard measures imposed on imports of these products. Although the CITT will only grant product exclusions in extraordinary circumstances, any interested party that imports or wants to import stainless steel wire or heavy plate into Canada from countries now...
read moreCanada’s Announced Support for its Steel Producers will hurt Canadian Steel Importers, Manufacturers and End-Users
Canadian steel importers, and manufacturers and end-users who use imported steel, will be affected by the Government’s latest moves to support Canada’s steel producers because the Government’s actions promise to restrict steel imports and to increase their cost to the detriment of importers, manufacturers and end-users. On April 3, 2019, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) concluded its safeguard inquiry into seven steel products, finding that imports of heavy plate and stainless steel wire...
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