Carbon Steel 'Melt and Pour' Reporting Requirement

Summary#

This is the Order Amending the General Import Permit No. 80 — Carbon Steel (SOR/2024-214). It requires importers to tell the government the country where the steel was first melted and poured, and it came into force on November 5, 2024.

What it does#

• Adds a definition of “country of melt and pour” to General Import Permit No. 80 — Carbon Steel.
• Requires importers to include the code “GIP80” or “LGI80” on customs accounting forms when required.
• Requires importers to provide, when asked, documents and records needed to determine:
  • country of origin, country of melt and pour, import value, or quantity of imported carbon steel.
• Requires importers to state the country of melt and pour at the time of importation, in the form and manner set by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
• Creates exemptions:
  • does not apply to a Customs Self-Assessment (CSA) importer for goods released under paragraph 32(2)(b) of the Customs Act;
  • does not apply if the total value for duty is under $5,000;
  • does not apply to certain finished or semi-finished steel items, including:
    • cold-formed or cold-finished angles, shapes or sections;
    • welded angles, shapes or sections;
    • switch blades, crossing frogs, point rods or other crossing pieces for railway or tramway track construction;
    • structures, parts of structures or structural plates, rods, angles, shapes, sections, tubes or the like;
    • stranded wire, ropes, cables or the like, not electrically insulated;
    • barbed wires or fencing wires;
    • wire nails, tacks, pins, staples or the like.
• Adds the country of melt and pour to the list of required information for monitored steel imports.
• Notes that the CBSA added an optional field for country of melt and pour to its Single Window Integrated Import Declaration in February 2024; this order makes provision of that data a mandatory term of the permit (subject to the listed exemptions).

Who's affected#

• Importers of carbon steel who use General Import Permit No. 80 — Carbon Steel — most of these importers will now have to report the country where the steel was melted and poured.
• Small businesses that import steel may be affected, though shipments under $5,000 are exempt.
• Participants in the Customs Self-Assessment (CSA) program are exempt for certain releases.
• Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and the CBSA will collect and handle the new data.
• If it is unclear whether a particular product falls into the listed exemptions, the source documents should be checked or the agencies contacted.

Why it matters#

• The change gives the government and industry better information about where imported steel is actually produced in liquid form. That matters because it helps distinguish steel melted and poured in North America from steel melted elsewhere.
• More detailed origin data can improve monitoring of import trends and support trade policy or trade-remedy decisions.
• For most importers, the new requirement is a short additional data field and a small record-keeping step. There are built-in exemptions to limit burden on low‑value shipments and some finished products.
• The information will be added to public steel import monitoring reports, increasing transparency. Failure to follow permit rules can lead to penalties under customs rules.