Sometimes the rumour mill churns news about a potential anti-dumping and/or countervailing duty case before it is officially initiated by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). Importers and exporters ask how they can mitigate risk.

Importers and exporters have an opportunity to get organized and prepare their documentation in advance – the extra time may be helpful because the CBSA does not give much time to prepare and submit an RFI response (usually it is around 30 days). Old RFI questionnaires are great precedents for gathering some of the basic and specific information.

More importantly, importers need to know how to protect themselves from a potentially huge bill on goods that may land in Canada after the preliminary determination of dumping (usually 90 days after the case is initiated, but can be extended at the discretion of the CBSA).  This means that importers have only 90 days from a purchase order date (prior to initiation) to land the goods.  Sometimes the anti-dumping and/or countervailing duty can exceed 200% of the value of the goods.

We also recommend to importer clients that they include protection clauses in the purchase orders and order when the rumour mill is active.  Protection clauses allow for the order to be cancelled if the goods cannot land before the preliminary determination of dumping and set out the terms for the refund of the deposit. We would be pleased to discuss this with you further.