International Trade Law News

By a 5-0 vote, the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) today made a final negative injury determination in the antidumping investigation on live swine from Canada. Chairman Stephen Koplan, Vice Chairman Deanna Tanner Okun, and Commissioners Marcia E. Miller, Jennifer A. Hillman, and Charlotte R. Lane voted in the negative. Commissioner Daniel R. Pearson did not participate in this investigation. As a result of the ITC's negative determination, no antidumping duty order will be issued. Last month, the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) made an affirmative final less-than-fair-value determination, calculating dumping margins up to 18% on Canadian hog imports. At the same time, DOC made a negative determination in the parallel countervailing duty investigation, finding no subsidies were paid to the Canadian producers.

The petitions requesting these investigations were filed by The Illinois Pork Producers Association, the Indiana Pork Advocacy Coalition, the Iowa Pork Producers Association, the Minnesota Pork Producers Association, the Missouri Pork Association, the Nebraska Pork Producers Association, Inc., the North Carolina Pork Council, Inc., the Ohio Pork Producers Council, and 119 individual producers of live swine.

Canadian pork producers are in Hog Heaven about today's ITC vote. The Pork Trade Action Coalition (PTAC) issued a statement saying that today's International Trade Commission (ITC) vote that live swine imports from Canada have not injured the U.S. domestic market is good news for both American and Canadian farmers and will help strengthen the North American hog market.