CITT Rules Injury on Truck Bodies from China—AD/CVD Collection Starts Now

The Finding

The Canadian International Trade Tribunal wrapped inquiry NQ-2025-009 this week with an injury finding on certain truck bodies originating in or exported from China. That means anti-dumping and countervailing duties are now enforceable. CBSA collects them at the border. The complainants were Morgan Canada Corporation (Bolton, Ontario) and Morgan Transit Corporation (Laval, Québec)—domestic manufacturers who argued that dumped Chinese imports were undercutting their market.

The Tribunal will publish reasons on July 17, 2026. Until then, we have the finding itself and the enforcement reality: if you import truck bodies from China that fall within the scope of this measure, you’re paying AD/CVD on top of regular duties and GST.

What Are “Subject Goods”

The measure covers “certain truck bodies” from China. The CITT product definition will be in the reasons, but CBSA’s preliminary scope (from the investigation stage) typically includes insulated and refrigerated van bodies, dry freight boxes, flatdecks, and specialized truck bodies built for commercial vehicles. Pickup truck caps, passenger van conversions, and bodies permanently mounted at the vehicle OEM factory are usually excluded.

If your imports sit near the edge of that description, you need the full product definition before you self-declare. The Tribunal’s reasons will clarify. CBSA expects you to get it right on the Commercial Accounting Declaration (CAD)—there’s no “I wasn’t sure” defense if you skip the SIMA indicator and CBSA catches it later.

How AD/CVD Gets Collected

CBSA collects anti-dumping and countervailing duties the same way it collects regular customs duties: you declare them on the CAD, and if you’re on a Release Prior to Payment program, they’re included in your monthly K84 statement. If you’re not on RPP, you pay at release.

The dumping duty is the gap between the Normal Value (the price the goods should sell for in a fair market) and the Export Price (what you actually paid). CBSA publishes Normal Value tables for subject goods—your broker uses those to calculate the margin. Countervailing duties offset subsidies the Chinese exporter received. Both rates can be importer-specific or country-wide, depending on how the investigation shook out.

If CBSA already had provisional duties in place during the investigation (likely, given the timeline), you’ve been paying estimated AD/CVD since the preliminary determination. The final rates may differ. CBSA will reconcile provisional vs final when the Tribunal’s reasons drop. If you overpaid, you get a refund. If you underpaid, you owe the difference plus interest.

What Importers Need to Do

Check your import records for the last 18 months. If you brought in truck bodies from China, pull the commercial invoices, the HS classification, and the country of origin documentation. Cross-reference against CBSA’s subject goods description once the Tribunal publishes reasons.

If your goods are subject:

• Notify your broker. They need to flag SIMA goods on the CAD.
• Verify your exporter’s name and address. CBSA may have exporter-specific dumping margins. If your supplier isn’t on the list, you’re stuck with the country-wide rate (which is usually higher).
• Recalculate your landed cost. AD/CVD can add 20% to 80% to the dutiable value, depending on the margin. That changes your pricing, your cash flow, and possibly your sourcing decision.
• If you’re on RPP, check your financial security. SIMA duties count toward your release limit. A big shipment of subject goods might blow through your bond if you didn’t budget for the extra duty.

For compliance tracking, add this measure to your internal SIMA watch list. CBSA updates Normal Value tables periodically. Your margin can shift.

The Domestic Industry Angle

Morgan Canada and Morgan Transit are the domestic producers who filed the complaint. They make insulated truck bodies, reefer boxes, and dry freight bodies in Ontario and Québec. The injury finding means the Tribunal agreed that dumped Chinese imports were causing material injury—lost sales, price suppression, or market share erosion.

From an importer’s perspective, that’s context, not a compliance obligation. But it explains why this measure exists and why CBSA will enforce it. The domestic industry has a vested interest in making sure CBSA catches non-compliance. If you mis-declare and skip the AD/CVD, expect a verification. AMPS penalties for SIMA mis-declaration run into the hundreds per shipment and scale up for repeat infractions.

What Happens July 17

The Tribunal will publish the full reasons, including the product definition, the scope of the measure, the exclusions, and the injury analysis. CBSA will update its SIMA registry with the final product description and the applicable Normal Value tables.

Until then, you’re working off the preliminary scope from CBSA’s dumping investigation. If you’re filing CADs on truck bodies from China right now, flag them as subject goods and use the provisional AD/CVD rates. Your broker has access to those tables. If you’re not sure whether your goods are in scope, hold the shipment until the reasons drop. A week of dwell time at a bonded warehouse is cheaper than an AMPS penalty and a retroactive duty bill.

The Enforcement Window

CBSA’s enforcement on SIMA measures is consistent. They run automated risk scoring on every CAD. Truck bodies from China with no SIMA indicator and no AD/CVD declared will trigger an exam or a post-release verification. They’ll pull the commercial invoice, the mill test certificate (if applicable), the packing list, and the supplier’s name. If the goods are subject and you didn’t declare it, you’re paying the duty, interest from the release date, and an AMPS penalty.

The look-back window for retroactive SIMA duty assessments is four years from the release date. That’s a long tail. If you imported Chinese truck bodies in 2024 during the provisional phase and your broker didn’t flag them, fix it now. File a voluntary correction with CBSA before they catch it. The penalty is lower, and you avoid the compliance flag on your file.

If your release volumes are high and your broker didn’t flag this measure when it dropped, that’s a broker problem. SIMA compliance is table stakes for a licensed customs broker. We track every preliminary and final determination, every Normal Value update, every scope clarification. It’s part of the brokerage service. If your current broker missed this one, they’re missing others.

Final point: SIMA measures don’t expire unless CBSA or the Tribunal explicitly revokes them. This measure is enforceable indefinitely until a review or a changed circumstances application kills it. Don’t treat it as a temporary surcharge. Build it into your sourcing model or find a supplier outside China.

If you’re importing truck bodies from China, pull the product spec and check it against the Tribunal’s reasons when they drop. Not sure if your goods are subject? We run that check daily. Get in touch.

Source: CSCB