Canada beefs up steel, aluminum dumping restrictions ahead of U.S. decision on tariffs

UPDATED STORY: The U.S. has slapped Canada with import duties of 25 per cent on steel and 10 per cent on aluminum.

The federal government says it taking further steps to prevent foreign steel and aluminum from being dumped into the North American market just ahead of a U.S. decision on whether to slap punishing duties on those products.

Canada, Mexico and Europe were exempted from import duties of 25 per cent on steel and 10 per cent on aluminum when they were first imposed in March but those exemptions expire on Friday.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau said in a statement late Wednesday that Canada has expanded the scope of its country of origin marking regime for steel and aluminum products to better determine where they come from.

Morneau said this builds on new funding announced in late April of an initial outlay of more than $30 million over five years to hire 40 new officers to investigate trade-related complaints, including those linked to steel and aluminum.

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That announcement came about a month after the Canada Border Services Agency was granted extra powers to identify businesses that try to dodge import duties and ship cheap foreign steel and aluminum through the Canadian market.

The latest federal attempt to ward off the tariffs coincided with a concerted effort by Canada and its European allies to try to stop the Trump administration from imposing the tariffs this week.