CITT Solar Panel SIMA Review: What RR-2025-008 Means for Your Duty Liability

The Canadian International Trade Tribunal kicked off expiry review RR-2025-008 last week, covering the SIMA order on photovoltaic modules and laminates. If you import solar panels or components, this review determines whether anti-dumping and countervailing duties stay in place or expire after their current five-year term.

The order in question targets imports from specific countries (historically China, and the scope has expanded over prior reviews). Right now, if you’re bringing in subject goods, you’re paying margins on top of baseline duties. Those margins vary by exporter and product type, but they add real cost to every CAD you file. The expiry review process gives the CITT a window to decide: does the domestic industry still need protection, or has the risk of material injury passed?

How expiry reviews work under SIMA

SIMA orders don’t run forever. They expire after five years unless the CITT finds that rescinding the order would likely lead to continued or resumed dumping and material injury to Canadian producers. The burden sits with the domestic industry to demonstrate ongoing need.

The review follows a set timeline. The CITT publishes the notice (done), gathers submissions from domestic producers and importers, and runs a hearing. Expect the full process to take six to nine months from notice to final determination. During that window, the existing order remains in force. You keep paying the current margins, you keep filing SIMA code fields on your CADs, and you keep the compliance paperwork trail that proves you declared subject goods correctly.

If the CITT rescinds the order, the duties drop off prospectively from the date of the decision. You don’t get a refund on past entries, but future imports of the same goods clear at baseline MFN or preferential rates (if you have origin). If the CITT extends the order, the margins stay and the clock resets for another five years.

What this means for your CAD filings

Photovoltaic modules typically fall under HS 8541.40 or 8541.43, depending on whether they’re assembled into modules or still at the laminate stage. If your goods fit the SIMA order’s product definition (check the original order and any amendments, the CITT publishes the full scope), you’re required to declare them as subject goods on every Commercial Accounting Declaration.

That means filling the SIMA code field with the correct case identifier, declaring the NRM or export price, and making sure your classification is defensible. Misclassification is not a defence if CBSA later determines you imported subject goods and failed to pay the margin. The penalty structure under AMPS treats that as a false declaration, and the lookback window is generous.

A common trap: assuming that because your supplier isn’t named in the exporter-specific margin table, the goods are exempt. They’re not. Unnamed exporters get hit with the residual “all others” rate, which is often higher than the named rates. If you can’t document the manufacturer of origin with enough specificity to claim a named rate, you default to residual. That’s a field we check on every SIMA entry, because the cost difference can be significant.

Bond and duty liability exposure

If you’re filing under Release Prior to Payment and carrying an RPP bond, your bond sizing needs to account for SIMA margins as part of the duties and taxes estimate. PV module margins have historically ranged from mid-single-digit percentages up to triple digits for certain exporters. If your bond was sized before you started importing subject goods, or if your volumes have grown, you may be undercollateralized.

CARM’s monthly K84 statement will flag a shortfall eventually, but the flag comes after you’ve already released goods. Better to run the math now. Take your average monthly import value of subject goods, multiply by the applicable margin, add baseline duty and GST, and compare that to your bond’s coverage window. If you’re tight, talk to your surety or move to cash accounting before CBSA holds a release.

The expiry review doesn’t change your current obligation, but it does create a decision point. If you expect the order to be rescinded and you’ve been deferring a bond increase, you might wait. If you expect extension (the domestic industry usually makes a strong case), size the bond correctly now.

The compliance angle: what to watch

CBSA doesn’t pause enforcement during an expiry review. If anything, scrutiny goes up. The domestic industry is watching import volumes closely because those numbers feed into the injury analysis. A sudden surge in imports during the review period gives ammunition to the argument that rescinding the order would cause renewed injury.

That means your entries are more likely to be flagged for verification. CBSA may ask for commercial invoices, mill certificates, country-of-origin documentation, and manufacturer details. If you’re claiming a named exporter rate, you need a paper trail that proves the goods came from that exporter’s facility. “Purchased through a trading company” is not enough. You need manufacturing location, facility name, and ideally an exporter code that matches CBSA’s records.

If you’ve been importing these goods for a while and your compliance documentation is current, you’re fine. If you’ve been relying on your supplier’s word that the goods are exempt, this is the review cycle to tighten that up.

Timeline and next steps

The CITT notice is in the Canada Gazette as of late September. Submissions from interested parties are due within the window published in the notice (typically 30 to 60 days from publication). The hearing usually happens three to four months after that, and the final determination lands another two to three months later.

You won’t get advance warning of the decision. The CITT publishes the ruling, and it’s effective immediately. If you’re importing high volumes of PV modules, assign someone to watch the CITT site or subscribe to the tribunal’s mailing list. The Gazette notice is public record; the determination will be too.

In the meantime, file your CADs correctly, keep your bond sized appropriately, and don’t treat the review period as a grace window to skip SIMA declarations. The order is still live until the CITT says otherwise.

If your margins are high enough that rescission would materially change your cost structure, run the math with your broker now, not after the determination is published and you’re trying to figure out if you overpaid the last six months of entries. We run these reviews every cycle. Get in touch.

Source: CSCB