Trade remedies and related dispute settlement (Chapter 19) summary
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Agreement fact sheets
The Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) preserves the binational panel dispute settlement mechanism from Chapter 19 of the original NAFTA, retains the existing exclusion of CUSMA partners from global safeguard action and adds new elements that strengthen cooperation on duty evasion and enhance transparency in trade remedy investigations. Given the integrated nature of the North American economy, it is important to minimize the disruptions that can result from the imposition of trade remedies. This outcome ensures that trade remedies are applied in a fair, transparent and responsible way while maintaining recourse, when necessary, to an impartial binational panel dispute settlement mechanism to review anti-dumping and countervailing duty measures imposed by CUSMA partners.
Technical summary of negotiated outcomes: Trade remedies and related dispute settlement
Dispute settlement for anti-dumping and countervailing duty matters (commonly referred to as Chapter 19)
- Maintains the independent and impartial Chapter 19 binational panel review mechanism for anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations.
- Canadian exporters affected by trade remedy measures will continue to have the choice of a transparent and expeditious binational panel process for settling disputes that is separate from a CUSMA partner’s domestic legal system.
- Ensures fairness for Canadians, as the decisions are made by representatives of both countries.
- Binational panel decisions may lead to a refund of duties collected, which is not available under WTO dispute settlement.
Trade remedies
- Reaffirms the rights and obligations of the parties under three WTO agreements: the Agreement on Safeguards, the Anti-dumping Agreement, and the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures.
- Retains the existing global safeguards exclusion, formerly in Chapter 8 of NAFTA. This provision will limit the uncertainty and potential trade disruptions when a CUSMA party resorts to global safeguards.
- Includes new provisions to strengthen cooperation between CUSMA partners to address the potential evasion of trade remedy duties, including through information-sharing and cooperation with respect to duty evasion verifications; these provisions will provide new tools to address unfair trade practices by non-CUSMA parties
- Includes new provisions that enhance transparency of trade remedy investigations by:
- Improving access to public information by making legal, policy and case-specific information available electronically
- Requiring each party to establish and maintain an electronic filing system, which will facilitate interested parties’ participation in trade remedy investigations
- Setting out enhanced notification and information disclosure requirements
- Allowing for the sharing of information on trade remedy investigations between CUSMA parties’ investigating authorities to better address unfair trade practices outside the region
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