On December 7, 2015, a WTO arbitrator issued the report on the level of retaliation that Canada can request in their dispute with the United States over “country of origin labelling” (COOL) requirements. The Arbitrator determined that the annual level of nullification or impairment of benefits accruing to Canada as a result of the COOL measure is CAD 1,054.729 million.
This decision must be formally adopted by the WTO membership before Canada can move forward with the retaliatory measures. A decision from the WTO membership is anticipated by the end of December. If the WTO membership adopt the measure and the US don’t repeal COOL’s provisions against beef and pork, Canada will be taking the necessary measures to implement the 100% surtax sometime in January. A final list of the products subject to retaliation along with the corresponding tariff items will be provided at the time of implementation of the surtax.
Some of the products that may be targeted are: fresh meats, food products, chemicals, jewelry, metal products, and furniture to name a few.
Canada will review & amend the list of products that will be subject to the surtax (drawn from the products listed in the June 2013 Canada Gazette notice). Stakeholders are encouraged to submit their views & concerns with respect to the specific products in writing to COOL-EPO@fin.gc.ca.
Please contact a Livingston representative should you have any questions.