Preliminary injury inquiry PI-2026-001

NOTICE OF COMMENCEMENT OF PRELIMINARY INJURY INQUIRY

DECORATIVE AND OTHER NON-STRUCTURAL PLYWOOD

The Canadian International Trade Tribunal gives notice that, pursuant to subsection 34(2) of the Special Import Measures Act (SIMA), it has initiated a preliminary injury inquiry to determine whether there is evidence that discloses a reasonable indication that the dumping and subsidizing of decorative and other non-structural plywood, as defined below (the subject goods), have caused injury or retardation or are threatening to cause injury, as these words are defined in SIMA. The subject goods are defined as:

Decorative and other non-structural plywood, whether or not surface coated or covered, and veneer core platforms for the production of decorative and other non-structural plywood, originating in or exported from the People’s Republic of China. Decorative and other non-structural plywood is defined as a flat, multilayered plywood or other veneered panel, consisting of two or more layers or plies of wood veneers and a core, with the face and/or back veneer made of wood. The veneers, along with the core are glued or otherwise bonded together. Decorative and other non-structural plywood include products that meet the American National Standard for Hardwood and Decorative Plywood, ANSI/HPVA HP-1-2024 (including any revisions to that standard).

Excluding:

a) Structural plywood that (i) is manufactured to meet CSA O121 (Douglas fir plywood), CSA O151 (Canadian softwood plywood), CSA O153 (Poplar plywood), or U.S. Products Standard PS 1-09, PS 2-09, or PS 2-10 for Structural Plywood (including any revisions to that standard or any substantially equivalent domestic or international standard intended for structural plywood), (ii) which has both a face and a back veneer of coniferous wood, and (iii) which is for use in structural applications;

b) Finished plywood products for use as flooring;

c) Plywood which has a shape or design other than a flat panel;

d) Phenolic Film Faced Plyform (PFF), also known as Phenolic Surface Film Plywood (PSF), defined as a panel with an “Exterior” or “Exposure 1” bond classification as is defined by The Engineered Wood Association, having an opaque phenolic film layer with a weight equal to or greater than 90g/m³ permanently bonded on both the face and back veneers and an opaque, moisture resistant coating applied to the edges; and

e) Laminated veneer lumber door and window components with (1) a maximum width of 44 millimeters, a thickness from 30 millimeters to 72 millimeters, and a length of less than 2413 millimeters, (2) water boiling point exterior adhesive, (3) a modulus of elasticity of 1,500,000 pounds per square inch or higher, (4) finger-jointed or lap-jointed core veneer with all layers oriented so that the grain is running parallel or with no more than 3 dispersed layers of veneer oriented with the grain running perpendicular to the other layers, and (5) top layer machined with a curved edge and one or more profile channels throughout.

The Tribunal’s preliminary injury inquiry will be conducted by way of written submissions. Each person or government wishing to participate in the preliminary injury inquiry must file Form I—Notice of Participation with the Tribunal, on or before April 23, 2026. Each counsel who intends to represent a party in the preliminary injury inquiry must file Form II—Notice of Representation and Form III—Declaration and Undertaking with the Tribunal, on or before April 23, 2026.

On April 28, 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.

Submissions by parties opposed to the complaint must be filed not later than noon (ET), on May 12, 2026. The complainants and supporting parties may make submissions in response to the submissions of parties opposed to the complaint not later than noon (ET), on May 20, 2026.

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

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, April 13, 2026

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

DISTRIBUTION OF THE RECORD

On April 28, 2026, the Tribunal will distribute the public information received from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to counsel and self-represented participants who have filed Form I—Notice of Participation or Form II—Notice of Representation, as appropriate, and the confidential information to counsel who have filed Form III—Declaration and Undertaking with the Tribunal.

SUBMISSION DATES AND FACTORS TO BE ADDRESSED

Submissions by parties opposed to the complaint must be filed not later than noon (ET), on May 12, 2026. These submissions should include evidence, for example, documents and sources that support the factual statements in the submissions and arguments concerning the questions of:

• whether there are goods produced in Canada, other than those identified in the CBSA’s statement of reasons for initiating the investigations, that are like goods to the subject goods;

• whether the subject and like goods comprise more than one class of goods;

• which domestic producers of like goods comprise the domestic industry; and

• whether the information before the Tribunal discloses a reasonable indication that the alleged dumping and subsidizing of the subject goods have caused injury or retardation, or are threatening to cause injury.

The complainants and supporting parties may make submissions in response to the submissions of parties opposed to the complaint not later than noon (ET), on May 20, 2026.

One complete electronic version of all submissions must be filed with the Tribunal. Please see the Tribunal’s Confidentiality Guidelines, available on its website.

REQUESTS FOR PRODUCT EXCLUSIONS

Parties should note that the Tribunal does not consider product exclusion requests during a preliminary injury inquiry, and, therefore, none should be filed at this stage. Should the matter proceed to a final injury inquiry, the schedule for filing product exclusion requests will be included in the notice of commencement of inquiry.

PROCEDURE FOR 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.

OTHER INFORMATION

The Canadian International Trade Tribunal Rules govern these proceedings.

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

The Tribunal has sent the notice of commencement of preliminary injury inquiry and the preliminary injury inquiry schedule to domestic producers, trade unions, importers and exporters with a known interest in the preliminary injury inquiry. The notice, additional information and the preliminary injury inquiry schedule listing the key events are also available on the Tribunal’s website.

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

PRELIMINARY INJURY INQUIRY SCHEDULE