The Canadian International Trade Tribunal conducted an interim review of its order concerning certain steel fasteners originating in or exported from China and Taiwan made on January 5, 2015, in the five-year Expiry Review No. RR-2014-001, continuing, with amendment, its order made on January 6, 2010, in the first five-year Expiry Review No. RR-2009-001, continuing, with amendment, its findings made on January 7, 2005, in Inquiry No. NQ‑2004-005 in respect of the subject goods.

CITT amended its order made on January 5, 2015, to exclude Squeeeeek No More square-drive wood screws, manufactured by or on behalf of O’Berry Enterprises Inc. under U.S. patent Nos. 5,371,992, 5,372,466 or 6,250,186, for use in wood flooring, with scoring above the threaded portion of the screw that allows the upper portion of the screw and head to be easily broken off, 3” or 3.5” in length, of a #8 or #9 diameter, threaded in part with 8 threads per inch and in part with 9 threads per inch, with the remainder unthreaded, and covered in a Gleitmo 615 lubricant coating (or equivalent coating) and imported in packages of 500 screws or less.

OBI, a U.S. vendor and potential exporter to Canada of the OBI screws (designed and intended for noise-dampening uses, not construction) originating in Taiwan, requested this interim review in the nature of an exclusion request on the basis that the domestic industry does not produce noise-dampening screws and, therefore, that the granting of an exclusion of such products from the 2015 order would not result in injury to the domestic industry.

On September 1, 2016, the Tribunal received a request from OBI for an interim review of the 2015 order excluding the product.

The Tribunal received submissions from only three parties other than OBI: Spaenaur Inc. (Spaenaur), Leland Industries Inc. (Leland) and Visqué Inc. (Visqué), the latter two of which opposed the interim review.

On the basis of the submissions received, the Tribunal decided that an interim review was warranted and issued a notice of commencement of interim review on February 17, 2017.

OBI’s position, supported by Leland and Spaenaur, was that the exclusion of the OBI screws from the 2015 order issued as a result of the five-year Expiry Review No. RR-2014-001 would not adversely affect the domestic producers of carbon steel fasteners because the domestic industry does not produce screws designed and intended for noise-dampening applications rather than construction.

OBI submitted that it had not filed a product exclusion request prior to, or during, the five-year Expiry Review No. RR-2014-001 because to date OBI has sold OBI screws exclusively in the United States and did not begin to consider expanding into the Canadian market until June of 2016.

Leland, the only domestic producer to make submissions in this interim review, ultimately consented to the exclusion.