Inquiry NQ-2025-008

NOTICE OF COMMENCEMENT OF INQUIRY

THERMOFORMED MOLDED FIBRE TABLEWARE

Notice was received by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal on February 27, 2026, from the Director General of the Trade and Anti‑dumping Programs Directorate at the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), stating that preliminary determinations had been made respecting the dumping and subsidizing of thermoformed molded fibre plates and platters regardless of diameter or length, and bowls with diameters or widths of eight centimetres or greater and lips up to eight centimetres, regardless of fibre source, thickness, additives, colour, design, coating, or surface or other finishing, originating in or exported from the People’s Republic of China.

Pursuant to section 42 of the Special Import Measures Act (SIMA), the Tribunal has initiated an inquiry to determine whether the dumping and subsidizing of the above‑mentioned goods have caused injury or retardation or are threatening to cause injury, to make inquiries with respect to massive importations, and to determine such other matters as the Tribunal is required to determine under that section.

Each person or government wishing to participate in the inquiry and at the hearing as a party must file Form I—Notice of Participation with the Tribunal, on or before March 16, 2026. Each counsel who intends to represent a party in the inquiry and at the hearing must file Form II—Notice of Representation and Form III—Declaration and Undertaking with the Tribunal, on or before March 16, 2026.

On April 20, 2026, the Tribunal will issue a list of participants. Counsel and self‑represented participants are required to serve their respective submissions on each other on the dates outlined below. Public submissions are to be served on counsel and those participants who are not represented by counsel. Confidential submissions are to be served only on counsel who have access to the confidential record, and who have filed Form III—Declaration and Undertaking with the Tribunal. This information will be included in the list of participants. One complete electronic version of all submissions must be filed with the Tribunal.

The Tribunal will hold a hearing relating to this inquiry commencing on May 25, 2026, to hear evidence and representations by interested parties. The type of hearing will be communicated at a later date.

Written submissions, correspondence and requests for information regarding this notice should be addressed to the Registry, Secretariat to the Canadian International Trade Tribunal, at citt-tcce@tribunal.gc.ca. The Registry can also be reached by telephone at 613‑993‑3595.

Ottawa, March 2, 2026

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

On February 27, 2026, the Tribunal received notice from the Director General of the Trade and Anti‑dumping Programs Directorate at the CBSA, stating that preliminary determinations have been made respecting the dumping and subsidizing of thermoformed molded fibre plates and platters regardless of diameter or length, and bowls with diameters or widths of eight centimetres or greater and lips up to eight centimetres, regardless of fibre source, thickness, additives, colour, design, coating, or surface or other finishing, originating in or exported from the People’s Republic of China.

Pursuant to section 42 of SIMA, the Tribunal will now determine whether the dumping and subsidizing of the above‑mentioned goods have caused injury or retardation or are threatening to cause injury, make inquiries with respect to massive importations, and determine such other matters as the Tribunal is required to determine under that section. More information is available in the Tribunal’s Preliminary and final injury inquiries guidelines.

The Tribunal has sent the notice of commencement of inquiry, as well as a letter outlining the details of the procedures and the inquiry schedule, to known interested parties, such as domestic producers, importers, foreign producers, certain purchasers, trade associations, and any trade unions that represent persons employed in the domestic industry. Some interested parties have been requested to complete questionnaires.

All questionnaires are bilingual and can be downloaded from the Tribunal’s website.

REQUESTS FOR PRODUCT EXCLUSIONS

The Tribunal’s Guidelines on product exclusion requests describe the procedure for filing requests for specific product exclusions. They also include links to the form for filing requests for product exclusions and to a response form for any party that opposes such requests. Please see the filing deadlines for the product exclusion process in the attached Inquiry Schedule.

REQUESTS FOR A PUBLIC INTEREST INQUIRY

In the event of an injury finding, a request for a public interest inquiry may be made by any party to the injury inquiry, or by any other group or person affected by the injury finding. Such a request must be filed with the Tribunal within 45 days of an injury finding. A public interest inquiry and an injury inquiry are completely separate proceedings. The Tribunal does not seek nor does it accept submissions on public interest issues during an injury inquiry.

PROCEDURE FOR E-FILING WITH THE TRIBUNAL

The public, counsel and self‑represented participants may file documents electronically with the Tribunal through its Secure E‑filing Service. The information is fully encrypted from the sender to the Tribunal.

Form I—Notice of Participation, Form II—Notice of Representation and Form III—Declaration and Undertaking should all be filed electronically through the Tribunal’s Secure E‑filing Service.

Following receipt of completed forms I, II and III, the Tribunal will send to counsel and self‑represented participants a letter with information on the E‑registry Service and the filing of documents.

HEARING

The Tribunal will hold a hearing relating to this inquiry commencing on May 25, 2026, to hear evidence and representations by interested parties. The type of hearing will be communicated at a later date.

INTERPRETATION AT THE HEARING

To facilitate management of interpretation requirements:

● 25 days prior to the hearing, parties are to advise the Tribunal and all parties, in writing, which language(s) their counsel and witnesses will be using.

At least twenty (20) days before the hearing (May 5, 2026), and pursuant to subrule 23(4) of the Rules, parties must notify the Tribunal and all other parties in writing of any requirement for interpretation services in one of the official languages. To ensure the efficient use of interpretation resources, parties must indicate which specific testimonies or portions of the hearing will require interpretation and identify the language of the testimony. If interpretation is required in a language other than the two official languages, parties must arrange and bear the cost of the service and coordinate all related logistics with the Registry.

OTHER INFORMATION

The Canadian International Trade Tribunal Rules govern these proceedings.

In accordance with section 46 of the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Act, a person who provides information to the Tribunal and who wishes some or all of the information to be kept confidential must, among other things, submit a non-confidential edited version or summary of the information designated as confidential, or a statement indicating why such a summary cannot be made. Please consult the Tribunal’s Confidentiality Guidelines for more information.

Written and oral communication with the Tribunal may be in English or in French.

At the end of these proceedings, the Tribunal will issue a decision supported by a summary of the case, a summary of the arguments and an analysis of the case. The decision will be posted on its website and distributed to counsel and self represented participants, as well as to organizations and persons registered to receive decisions of the Tribunal.

INQUIRY SCHEDULE