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Dispute Settlement

WTO - Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU)

Canada's Retaliation Notification to the WTO

Avenue de l’Ariana 5
1202 Geneva, Switzerland
Tel: (41.22) 919-9214, Fax: (41.22) 919-9254

April 29, 2005

H.E. Mr. Eirik Glenne
Chairman
Dispute Settlement Body
World Trade Organization
154, rue de Lausanne
1211 Geneva 21

Dear Mr. Chairman:

On 26 November 2004, the Dispute Settlement Body ("DSB") granted authorization to Canada to suspend concessions and related obligations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 ("GATT 1994") in accordance with the decision of the Arbitrator in United States - Continued Dumping and Subsidies Offset Act of 2000. The authorization was made pursuant to Canada’s request made under Article 22.7 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes ("DSU"). In that request, Canada undertook to notify the DSB every year, the terms of any measures Canada proposes to adopt and the applicable level of suspension of concessions, prior to bringing such measures into force.

Canada hereby notifies the DSB that it is suspending, as of 1 May 2005, the application of concessions and related obligations under GATT 1994 on imports of certain products originating in the United States of America. For the first year, an ad valorem additional duty of 15 % will be imposed on the products listed in the annex and originating in the United States of America. This suspension covers, over one year, a total value of trade that does not exceed US$ 11.16 million.

Canada’s current level of authorization established through arbitration under Article 22.6 of the DSU is US$ 11.16 million. It represents 72 per cent of US$15.5 million collected from Canada’s exports and disbursed to U.S. companies in the distribution under the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000 for the most recent year for which data are available.

The amount of relevant disbursements was identified using the CDSOA Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2004, published by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on 17 December 2004.

Canada requests that you circulate this notification to the Members of the DSB.

Yours sincerely,

Don Stephenson
Ambassador
Permanent Representative

cc: Mr. Evan Rogerson, Director, Council and Trade Negotiations Division, WTO
H.E. Mrs. Linnet F. Deily, United States of America
H.E. Mr. Luiz Felipe de Seixas Corrëa, Brazil
H.E. Mr. Alejandro Jara, Chile
H.E. Mr. Carlo Trojan, European Commission
H.E. Mr. Ujal Singh Bhatia, India
H.E. Mr. Ichiro Fujisaki, Japan
H.E. Mr. Choi Hyuck, Korea
H.E. Mr. Fernando de Mateo y Venturini, Mexico

ANNEX: LIST OF PRODUCTS

Canada’s suspension of concessions or other obligations in the form of a 15 percent ad valorem additional duty will be applied on live swine, cigarettes, oysters, and certain specialty fish (including live ornamental fish and certain frozen fish) originating from the United States of America. These products are identified by the following tariff items in the List of Tariff Provisions set out in the schedule to Canada’s Customs Tariff. The following descriptions in the present notification are for information purposes only.