Canada Border Services Agency Continues Duty Protection on Unfairly Traded US, EU, and UK Sugar

Toronto – On March 30, 2022, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) issued the notice of the conclusion of its re-investigation concerning dumped sugar from the United States (US), Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom (UK), and subsidized sugar from the European Union (EU). The CBSA’s notice of conclusion is available here (link). The purpose of the re-investigation was to update the rates of anti-dumping and countervailing duties following the Canadian International Trade Tribunal’s finding last year that these measures continue to be necessary to protect the Canadian sugar industry.

The CBSA determined that anti-dumping duties will continue to apply to imports of dumped sugar from the US, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK at the general rate of 180%.

The CBSA also determined that a countervailing duty will continue to apply to imports of subsidized EU sugar at the updated rate of 39.70 EUR per metric tonne.

“The CBSA’s determinations provide vital protection to Canadian sugar producers, who are vulnerable to sugar traded at unfair prices as long as the distortions created by the US, EU, and UK sugar programs continue,” stated Sandra Marsden, President of the Canadian Sugar Institute. “Thus far, global and regional trade negotiations have not resulted in a meaningful change to the one-way trade situations with the US, EU, and UK. Until these distortions are eliminated, Canada’s open sugar market represents an attractive destination for surplus sugar at dumped and subsidized prices, and continuation of the duty protection is essential to restrict unfair competition.”

Canada is one of the few developed country markets in the world that does not subsidize and protect its domestic sugar producers. In contrast, the US, EU, and UK sugar programs maintain high customs tariffs and restrictive import quotas to protect their domestic producers from world market volatility. This stimulates local production, and the resulting over-supply must be exported at prices substantially below their internal market prices.

The CBSA’s determinations will help sustain a vital Canadian industry that operates under world market conditions and supports Canadian food security, providing Canadian consumers and food manufacturers with a reliable supply of competitively priced refined sugar.

CONTACT

Sandra Marsden, President, Canadian Sugar Institute, smarsden@sugar.ca

The Canadian Sugar Institute (CSI) is the national non-profit association of Canadian producers of refined sugar. The CSI's key objectives include improving access to export markets, supporting efforts to gain more liberalized sugar trade globally, seeking redress from unfair international trade practices, and enhancing awareness of the industry’s value-added contribution to Canadian food manufacturing.