A Canadian trade body has made a preliminary ruling that imports of cold-rolled steel from Vietnam, China and the Republic of Korea are harming the domestic industry.

A factory of the NS BlueScope Co. Ltd

The CITT looked into evidence presented by the CBSA to determine if dumping and subsidising of cold-reduced flat‑rolled sheet products of carbon steel, in coils or cut lengths, originating in or exported from China, the Republic of Korea and Vietnam caused injury or are threatening to cause injury to the domestic industry.

Meanwhile, the CBSA will continue its investigations and issue preliminary determinations by August 20.

[Canada launches investigation into cold-rolled steel from China, RoK, Vietnam]

Aside from cold-rolled steel, the CITT and the CBSA are also investigating some carbon steel welded pipe products from Vietnam, the Philippines, Pakistan and Turkey, following a complaint filed by Novamerican Steel Inc. of Montréal, Quebec.

Canada has launched various anti-dumping and subsidy probes into steel imports to protect jobs and the interests of the domestic steel industry in the context of Canadian aluminum and steel facing tariffs in the US.

At present, the country is taking 101 special import measures, covering a wide variety of industrial and consumer products, aiming to protect Canadian jobs and the economy.

In 2017, its steel industry employed more than 23,000 Canadians and contributed 4.2 billion CAD (nearly 3.2 billion USD) to the country’s gross domestic product.  Meanwhile, the aluminum industry employed 10,500 workers and contributed 4.7 billion CAD to the economy.-VNA