Geography, History, Economic, Necessity … A Comprehensive Plan, Mutually Beneficial and Advantageous to Both Sides
On the eve of an official visit to Canada almost twenty years ago Canada in one of his weekly radio addresses President Ronald Reagan spoke to the American people about and his broad vision for the future. He began by quoting from President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 speech to a joint session of Parliament in Ottawa; Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has...
read moreCETA Will Increase US Exports to Canada: That Should Make A President-Elect Happy
Free trade is complicated business, as will soon find out US president-elect Donald Trump. NAFTA may very well be up for a major grooming, but CETA (crossing fingers now) will increase US exports to Canada and advance the balance of trade in favor of the Americans. And a healthy trade balance is a principle very dear to Mr. Trump who’s looking to restore fairness in trade deals. On the flip side, are more imports...
read moreConsumer and Business Groups Now Can Have a Voice in the Gypsum Board Dumping Inquiry
The dumping inquiry into Gypsum Board from the United States has just been complicated by a Cabinet Order directing the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (“CITT”) to consider whether anti-dumping duties will cause economic harm to Canada and Canadian gypsum board users. As a result of the Order, the CITT must now simultaneously conduct two separate inquiries into U.S. gypsum board imports. While this requirement will make the CITT process more difficult overall, it gives...
read moreWoods LaFortune Submission in the SIMA Review
The Department of Finance is currently conducting a review of the Special Import Measures Act (“SIMA”), the basis of Canada’s anti-dumping and countervailing duty system, and issued an Invitation to Interested Parties to submit their views on a “focused set of potential changes.” Although the SIMA review is intended to take all stakeholder interests into consideration, the issues raised in the Invitation focus on increased protection for domestic producers. For example, the Department has...
read moreSIMA Review? Maybe we can get the Right Balance This Time.
The Department of Finance is seeking input on a “focused set of potential changes” to the Special Import Measures Act (SIMA)[1]. The potential changes would be made in three areas – calculation of normal values, enforcement and evidentiary standards – and would be considered from the perspective of: whether the system protects domestic producers from unfairly traded imports; whether the resulting changes would be transparent and could be effectively administered; whether the resulting changes...
read moreCanada-Korea Free Trade Agreement Part I: The Sleeping Giant – A Big Asia Pacific Move Forward for Canada
Introduction On September 22, 2014, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and South Korean President Park Geun-hye signed the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement [“CKFTA” or “Agreement”]. For Korea, this was the latest in a series of FTAs concluded with major economies, including one with the European Union [“KOREU”], the United States [“KORUS”], and Australia [“KAFTA”]. For Canada, it marked the winding up of two big negotiations with major economies, the other being the Canada and European...
read moreExporting to Canada:Where Do We Begin – Webinar Slides
The Webinar entitled “Exporting to Canada: Where Do We Begin”, a joint effort between Woods, LaFortune LLP, the U.S. Commercial Service in Ottawa and Shane Brown of Thompson Ahern International, was held on November 12, 2014. The presentation provided new exporters information on a number of topics that should be considered when beginning to export such as: the Canadian Market; Shipping; IP Protection and Export Plans. The full presentation materials are available here –Exporting...
read more
