The Canadian International Trade Tribunal amended its tariff on certain carbon steel fastener exports from China and Taiwan to exclude shoulder bolts.

On February 15, 2017, CITT announced Interim Review No. RD-2016-001 “to exclude, effective May 16, 2016, the following goods: shoulder bolts made of steel, grade 5, and zinc-plated, with a hexagonal head, an unthreaded cylindrical shoulder section ranging from 1/4 inch to 3/4 inch in diameter, and a threaded section that is smaller in diameter than the shoulder ranging from 3/8 inch to 7/8 inch in length and between 10-24 and 5/8-11 in common thread sizes.”

The original tariff dates back to 2005, when the Canadian government decided to uphold antidumping and countervailing duties first implemented on a provisional basis in September 2004. The dumping tariff ranged from 1.39% to 170%. Countervailing duties on carbon steel screws from China were set at 1.25 yuan (18 Canadian cents) per kilogram (2.2 pounds) of fasteners.

The review was initiated after Canimex Inc., an importer, filed an exclusion request “on the basis that the domestic fastener industry in Canada does not produce shoulder bolts, and therefore would not be injured by imports of shoulder bolts from other countries.”

CITT received submissions from only two parties other than Canimex — Spaenaur Inc. and Leland Industries Inc. — neither of which opposed the interim review.

Leland, the only domestic producer to make submissions in this interim review, consented to the exclusion on a limited basis, as follows: hex-head shoulder bolts with a thread size of 3/8-16, in accordance with the specifications and drawing filed by Canimex.

Leland requested that the Tribunal limit the scope of the exclusion to 20,000 pieces per year and to shoulder bolts with a thread size of 3/8-16. The Tribunal noted that the limitation sought by Leland mirrors the annual quantity and product dimensions indicated by Canimex in its request for quotes from the domestic producers.

Canimex’s allegation was supported by e-mail correspondence dated between March and April of 2016, in which each of the three known domestic producers of like goods in relation to the 2015 order — Leland, Visqué Inc. and Infasco Nut — declined Canimex’s request to order shoulder bolts, stating that they were not capable of producing the requested product. Specifically, Canimex had requested that they provide quotes for the purchase of hex-head shoulder bolts in 3/8-16 thread size in accordance with the technical specifications provided with its request, in the amount of approximately 20,000 pieces per year.

“The evidence submitted by Canimex demonstrates that there is no current domestic production but it is unclear from the evidence on the record precisely since when that has been the case,” according to the CITT order.

“Nevertheless, the Tribunal finds that this has been the case since April 6, 2016, i.e. the date of Infasco’s e‑mail indicating it cannot produce the requested shoulder bolts, it being the last of the domestic producers to respond to Canimex’s request.”

For more information, visit the Fastener History section of GlobalFastenerNews.com:

2005 FIN – Canada Sets 5-Year Tariffs on China and Taiwan Fasteners