By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban
The St. Laurent company Media Cash Register Inc. was one of several complainants prompting a Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) probe into the “alleged dumping and subsidizing of thermal paper rolls from China,” the agency announced.
The St. Laurent firm, founded in 1980, is one of the largest manufacturers and suppliers of point-of-sale paper rolls in North America.
The CBSA says it is looking into whether the thermal paper rolls originating in or being exported from China are “being sold at unfair prices and/or subsidized. Thermal paper is used in such devices as adding machines, cash registers, credit card terminals and portable printers.
“These practices can harm Canadian industries by undercutting Canadian prices, which undermines fair competition,” the agency stated.
The other complainants were McDermid Paper Converters Limited of Markham, Ontario and Custom Paper Ltd. of Richmond, B.C..
“The complainants allege that as a result of an increase in the volume of the dumped and subsidized imports from China, they have suffered material injury in the form of lost sales and market share, price undercutting, reduced capacity utilization, price depression and suppression, losses of profitability, and negative impacts on employment, wages, and investments,” the CBSA says.
The CBSA added that it and the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) “both play a role in the investigations.The CITT will begin a preliminary inquiry to determine whether the imports are harming Canadian producers and will issue a decision by August 11, 2025. Concurrently, the CBSA will investigate whether the imports are being sold in Canada at unfair prices and/or are being subsidized, and will make preliminary decisions by September 10, 2025.”
The agency added that there are “158 special import measures in force in Canada, covering a wide variety of industrial and consumer products. These measures have directly helped to protect approximately 31,000 Canadian jobs and $11.6 billion in Canadian production.” n