Wheat Gluten Anti-Dumping Review — Track It Now or File Late Corrections

On March 2, 2026, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal initiated an expiry review of its 2021 anti-dumping finding on wheat gluten from Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, and Lithuania. CBSA followed with its own expiry review investigation the next day. If you import wheat gluten from any of these origins, your provisional duty rate is locked in until CITT decides whether to extend, rescind, or vary the finding, likely by early 2027.

This is not a new investigation. The original finding (NQ-2020-003, April 22, 2021) imposed specific anti-dumping duties on subject goods after a full injury inquiry. Those duties are now five years old, and SIMA requires CITT to review whether continuing them is still necessary to prevent injury to Canadian producers. If CITT lets the finding expire, the duties disappear. If CITT renews it, you keep paying. If CITT varies it (narrows the scope or adjusts margins), your CAD filing gets more complicated.

What Happens During the Review

Your current CAD filings continue under the existing duty rates. CBSA will continue to assess anti-dumping duties at the rates published in the original finding. If you’re already filing with the correct SIMA code and paying the provisional amount, nothing changes until CITT issues its expiry review determination.

If you’ve been misclassifying origin or failing to declare subject goods, this review is a good time to fix it. CBSA enforcement tends to tighten up around expiry reviews because the agency is feeding data to CITT’s injury analysis. A verification letter during an expiry review year is not coincidence. If CBSA decides to exam your next wheat gluten shipment, make sure your sufferance warehouse has clean documentation ready: origin certificates, mill specs, the whole file.

Filing and Record-Keeping

If you import wheat gluten from any of the six named countries, make sure every CAD includes:

• The correct HS classification (usually 1109.00.00.00, but verify your specific product)
• Country of origin accurately declared
• SIMA code for subject goods (if applicable)
• Provisional anti-dumping duty calculated and paid at time of release

CBSA expects the importer of record, or the broker filing on their behalf, to know whether the goods are subject. “I didn’t know there was a SIMA case” is not a defence if you’ve been importing the same product for years. If you’re unsure whether your wheat gluten falls within the scope of the original finding, read the CITT’s 2021 statement of reasons or ask your broker to pull the product definition.

Keep commercial invoices, mill certificates, and any origin documentation for six years. If CITT decides to narrow the scope during this review, you may need those records to prove your shipments were always out-of-scope and file for a refund of duties paid.

What If CITT Lets It Expire?

If CITT rescinds the finding, anti-dumping duties on wheat gluten from these origins stop. Any duties you paid on shipments that clear customs after the rescission date would be refundable. You’d file a CBSA refund claim (Form B2, or through CARM if the payment was post-CARM) and get the money back, usually within 90 days if the paperwork is clean. That’s standard duty relief process.

But if you’ve been paying anti-dumping duties for five years and your supplier pricing hasn’t adjusted, rescission is a margin windfall. If your supplier already dropped their price to compensate for the duty, rescission doesn’t help you. You just go back to paying the supplier more. Know which scenario you’re in before you celebrate.

What If CITT Renews It?

If CITT continues the finding, you keep filing and paying as before. No refunds, no changes, just confirmation that the status quo extends for another five years (until the next expiry review in 2031).

The more interesting case is if CITT varies the finding. Narrowing the product scope, adjusting the margins, or excluding certain exporters means you need to re-verify every line item on your CAD. A varied finding can create situations where shipment A from Germany is subject and shipment B from the same mill is not, depending on product specs or exporter identity. Miss that distinction and you either overpay or underpay, both of which create problems.

Timeline

CITT’s expiry review determination is due within 12 months of initiation, so expect a decision by March 2027. CBSA’s investigation runs in parallel and feeds into CITT’s analysis. If you’re an importer with volume in this space, you’ll likely see a CBSA questionnaire or verification request before the review closes. Answer it. A non-response or a sloppy response gets treated as non-cooperation, and CBSA will use the highest margin on record for your goods.

If you’re a Canadian wheat gluten producer or a domestic user advocating for or against the duties, CITT is taking submissions. For importers who just want to stay compliant and avoid surprises, the play is simpler: file correctly now, track the case, and be ready to adjust your CAD workflow once CITT rules. You can find case updates and filing requirements on CBSA’s SIMA page.

We track SIMA cases for clients who import subject goods across multiple product lines. If you need someone to flag the determination when it drops and translate it into a filing checklist, that’s part of what compliance retainers cover. Most of these expiry reviews are low-drama renewals. The ones that vary the finding are the ones that create cleanup work. Get in touch if you’d rather hand that part off.

Source: CSCB