The Canadian Industrial Relations Board could reach a decision by Aug. 9 on what types of rail service should continue at Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) in the event of a union-led work stoppage, USDA said in a July 18 report. The agency said CIRB may intervene “to prevent an immediate and serious danger to the safety or health of the public.” Union members with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, the union representing over 9,000 workers at CN and CPKC, had said in early May that members had voted to strike at both railways over a labor agreement impasse (see 2405060029).

Certain shipments of animal products and byproducts exported from Canada and then returned to the country unchanged may need an import license as of July 10, the country said.

Almost three years after environmental groups asked the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to ask the tri-national Commission on Environmental Cooperation to establish a formal factual record of Mexico's failure to enforce its ban on gillnets in the Upper Gulf of California in Mexico (see 2108130052), that commission will begin such a fact-finding mission.

Canada this week began a review to decide whether it will extend its antidumping and countervailing duties on certain imported silicon metal from China, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal announced. The Canada Border Services Agency is expected to decide by Nov. 21 whether there will be a “likelihood of resumed or continued dumping or subsidizing” if the duties were to expire. If CBSA reaches a “positive determination,” the tribunal will decide by April 30 whether that dumping or subsidizing “is likely to result in injury to the domestic industry." The country last extended the duties in 2019.

Canada's Trade Minister Mary Ng, under questions from parties to the left and right of her Liberal party, as well as the Québécois party, said the fact that there are outstanding disagreements between Canada and the U.S. on U.S. trade remedies on softwood lumber, on auto rules of origin and on Canadian dairy import restrictions does not mean that Canada will get big-footed in the free trade review.

A Costa Rican court on June 4 restored lower 3.5% to 4% tariffs in the country on imports of milled and rough rice, overturning an April court ruling that had put higher 35% tariffs in place (see 2404250057). The decision “dramatically erodes” preferential access for U.S. rice exports under a tariff-rate quota negotiated in the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement, the Foreign Agricultural Service said in a June 12 report. “Earlier hopes for higher U.S. rough rice exports to Costa Rica in 2024 evaporated before a single shipment could reach Costa Rican ports.” However, FAS doesn’t expect the “stunning reversal to be the final word in this political tug-of-war,” as the lower tariffs “pose an existential threat to the majority of Costa Rican rice producers.”

The trade is watching whether more than 9,000 Canada Border Service Agency workers will go on strike on Wednesday should the impasse on labor contract negotiations continue.

The Dominican Republic is imposing higher duties on imports of U.S. mozzarella cheese after reaching the threshold for safeguard measures under the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement, USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service said in a report. The country activated the safeguard after importing 472 metric tons of mozzarella cheese from the U.S. so far this year, the agency said,. The cheese will now be subject to an 11.2% tariff for the rest of the year. It was previously subject to a 2% out of quota tariff rate.

Brazil recently added 454 items and removed 603 items from its list of foreign capital goods and information technology and telecommunications goods subject to duty-free treatment under its Ex-Tarifario regime, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported June 3. They include goods classified in Harmonized System chapters 82, 84, 85, 86, 87 and 90, and they will benefit from duty‑free treatment through Dec. 31, 2025.

A union representing Canadian customs agents will meet with the government June 3 to try to negotiate a new labor deal and avoid a strike that could lead to disruptions at ports and border crossings across Canada. The Public Service Alliance of Canada, which represents over 9,000 border and customs agents for the Canada Border Services Agency, said May 29 it’s “hopeful” CBSA “will return to the bargaining table with a renewed mandate to reach a fair agreement for members” next week.