Evidence of meeting #124 for International Trade in the 42nd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was product.
A video is available from Parliament.
Director General, Trade and Anti-dumping Programs, Canada Border Services Agency
Yes. The way it works is that once there's a licence and all of the players on the chain are licensed, the relief flows immediately, so they simply aren't having to pay the duty and taxes. If we find out after the fact through verification, through audit, that they have broken the terms and conditions of that relief licence, then they'll get a bill from us. It should be—
NDP
Tracey Ramsey NDP Essex, ON
I think it's unclear. What I'm hearing people saying is that they haven't been paid yet.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Mark Eyking
Sorry, Ms. Ramsey; your time is way over. We have to move over to the Liberals and Mr. Sheehan.
Terry Sheehan Sault Ste. Marie, Lib.
Thank you very much for the presentation.
I just wanted to pick up where Tracey was going with the new officers. At our first committee meeting, I asked a question of David McHattie, who is the incoming president for the Canadian manufacturers' association. The federal government made a number of changes in the 2017 budget, and Patrick has alluded to some about scoping, market distortion, union participation, and also the other ones that were in the 2016 budget.
He referenced the one that was recently announced by the Prime Minister, and that is the increase in funding—the $30 million—and the 40 new officers for the Canada Border Services Agency. You kind of alluded to a special set of skills that they would have. Maybe you could delve into that. You know I'm on the border in Sault Ste. Marie, and Peter obviously has some folks in Mississauga at the airport, but what kind of skill sets would these individuals have and be able to use, as David McHattie said, to fight this battle very effectively?
Director General, Trade and Anti-dumping Programs, Canada Border Services Agency
I'll speak quickly to it, and then I'll ask Alex to add something. This is more his specific domain, in the sense that he was one of those officers earlier in his career.
They tend to be accountant types in the way that a CRA auditor is—not always, but they tend to be B.Com. accountant types. They're the kind of people who can reasonably be sent into a boardroom of a foreign company to bust open the books, pore through them, and really figure things out. What is the price at which that company is selling in their domestic market, recognizing what the various subsidy programs might be? What's the actual price they're selling at, and how does that compare with the price they're selling it at in Canada? Are they de facto selling lower in Canada than they sell in their own domestic market, which constitutes dumping?
It's about poring through the books and wading through the minutiae to really get to the truth and the heart of the matter. Those are the kinds of people. It takes a while for them to learn the Special Import Measures Act. The requirements we adhere to in order to be WTO-compliant, including the formulas and the calculation methods we use, are all prescribed in the legislation. There's a lot of learning, but that's the background educationally that they bring.
Alex, did you want to add to that?
Sault Ste. Marie, Lib.
First, I'll just follow up on your point with the new officers in place. You alluded in your opening comments to the time it usually takes to do the work and that it has been shortened. I can't remember the number of days, but it has been shortened. Obviously it has been successful.
Director General, Trade and Anti-dumping Programs, Canada Border Services Agency
I think there's a little bit of a difference that I need to clarify here. When I spoke in my remarks about the time frames being shortened, that was in reference to the processing of the duty relief program and the drawback program. That's people who are looking for relief either at importation or after.
Director General, Trade and Anti-dumping Programs, Canada Border Services Agency
That was our service performance in getting those licences approved for people or those drawback claims approved for people and getting relief out.
Director General, Trade and Anti-dumping Programs, Canada Border Services Agency
For those programs, it has shrunk from a typical 90-day time frame to 45 and 23 days respectively.
Director General, Trade and Anti-dumping Programs, Canada Border Services Agency
We're adding a team around investigations of anti-dumping. Those are completely distinct, completely separate functions. There we're actually time-bound in the statute for the maximum time frame. Usually it's 260 days to go from A to Z in an anti-dumping investigation, with the CITT undertaking concurrent activities to determine whether or not the dumping and the subsidy we identified will cause injury to Canadian customers.
Alexander Lawton Director, Assessment and Licensing and Trade Incentives Unit, Canada Border Services Agency
To go back to the original question in terms of educational background and skill sets, there's not a lot I can add to Doug's response. They have accounting and auditing backgrounds, a certain level of knowledge with respect to finance and international trade, as well as, ideally, some technical knowledge when it comes to steel or aluminum particularly, although that's something that can be gained on the job.
Essentially, we're looking for somebody who's comfortable doing books and records and audits, comfortable with accounting and looking through reams of business transactional data, and just comfortable with international trade in general.
Sault Ste. Marie, Lib.
Thank you.
Patrick, of the remission orders that have been granted, what percentage of the companies that are benefiting are small businesses?
Director General, International Trade Policy, Department of Finance
Of the 50 that were assessed and part of last week's announcement, 35 of those were SMEs. That's about 70%.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Mark Eyking
Thank you.
That ends the first round. We'll go to our second round now. It will be a short one.
We have the British Columbia dynamic duo here.
It's good to see you here, Ms. Murray, the member for Vancouver Quadra. I believe you and Mr. Dhaliwal will share the five minutes.
Go ahead.
Liberal
Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
Thank you very much.
It's great to be a visitor to this committee with regard to this very important study.
I want to share a letter I received yesterday about how the remission program is actually working very well. I won't read the whole thing, but the letter writer states:
Our business...is a small business that distributes specialized steel products....We import this product from the United States and have many manufacturing customers across Western Canada who depend on this product....
Essentially, the countermeasures brought the business to a standstill, as the Canadian customers had no other Canadian source for this product, and it no longer allowed them to be competitive. They approached my office. I sent them to the ministry of international trade, and they made their way to the right person to investigate their situation. The writer wrote:
I am pleased to let you know that this last week we received a remission order for our product. The joy and relief of our customers and our staff is immense.
They complimented how the government functioned in exploring the merits of the case for remission, and wanted to thank the government on behalf of their company and customers across western Canada, representing over 5,000 jobs.
I thought I would just share a success story from the west coast and thank you for your part in that.
Liberal
Sukh Dhaliwal Liberal Surrey—Newton, BC
Thank you, Joyce.
Thank you to the presenters.
My first question is going to go to Mr. Halley. Yesterday I met with Chris Gardner, the president of the Independent Contractors and Business Association of British Columbia, and Tim McEwan, the vice-president. The issue they raised with me is that 15% of the rebar used in British Columbia is local and 85% of it comes from either the U.S. or Asia. They also mentioned that it's not feasible to bring rebar from Quebec or Ontario. Because it's going to affect the housing market and I'm expecting the small businesses there as well, are there any programs that you are thinking of in the future that will help small businesses like that?
Senior Director, Trade Rules, International Trade and Finance Branch, Department of Finance
Thank you.
We have heard some commentary as well from stakeholders on that issue. I guess I would reiterate that the provisional safeguards, which are in place for 200 days, are in the form of a tariff rate quota. Companies that are importing along the lines of historical volumes should be able to continue, provided that they are obtaining the permits that are required.
The intent wasn't to kind of clamp down too much on imports. It was to address the surge but not go too far with it. We are taking feedback from companies that might face particular issues, and certainly the trade tribunal will be hearing these views as well as part their process, and those views will then be reflected, I would think, in the recommendation that comes back to the government for any final safeguard that might be recommended.
We're certainly listening to those views. If there are things that are of a more urgent nature, I think we would reflect on that and see whether the government needs to do something to address it.
Liberal
Sukh Dhaliwal Liberal Surrey—Newton, BC
Is there a particular department or person that this Independent Contractors and Business Association should contact?