Last week’s federal budget announced the Government’s intention to introduce a number of measures to strengthen and facilitate access to Canada’s trade remedy system.
The government will introduce amendments to the Special Import Measures Act and the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Act in order to prevent circumvention of duties, to control potential surges of unfairly traded imports and to provide trade unions with the ability to file trade remedy complaints.
Budget 2022 also proposes to provide $4.7 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, and $1.1 million ongoing, to the Canada Border Services Agency to create a Trade Remedy Counselling Unit that will assist companies, with a focus on small and medium-sized enterprises.
The government also proposes to introduce amendments to the Customs Act to implement electronic payments and clarify importer responsibility for duties and taxes.