26 April 1999

Request for Textile Tariff Relief, No. TR-98-019

On 13 April 1999 the CITT initiated an investigation into a request by Tribal Sportswear Inc. for tariff relief on certain woven fabrics of cotton. The Tribunal has made some revisions to the Notice of Commencement of Investigation, which were incorporated into the 24 April 1999 edition of the Canada Gazette, Part I.

The request is for the removal, for an indeterminate period of time, of the customs duty on importations from all countries of woven fabrics of cotton, 3-thread twill, containing 98 per cent by weight of cotton and two per cent by weight of elastomeric strip, dyed, weighing more than 200 g/m2, for use in the manufacture of women's pants, skirts and shorts (the subject fabric).

The Tribunal will conduct an investigation under section 19 of the CITT Act into the appropriateness of reducing or removing the customs duty on importations of the subject fabric, which is classified under tariff item No. 5209.32.00.

The Tribunal's investigation was commenced on 13 April 1999 and will be conducted by way of written submissions. To participate in the Tribunal's investigation, the requester or an interested party must file with the Tribunal a notice of appearance in Form I of the Textile Reference Guidelines on or before 27 April 1999. The Tribunal's recommendations to the Minister of Finance are scheduled to be issued by 14 June 1999.

The requester has asked that its request be handled on an expedited basis pursuant to paragraph 4 of the Textile Reference Guide, owing to special circumstances. The requester submits that the price of the subject fabric is an extremely important factor as it is under intense pressure from retailers who resist higher prices and seek price concessions on apparel made from what they call a commodity fabric. In the circumstances, the Tribunal is prepared to conduct an expedited investigation, unless comments received from interested parties demonstrate that the normal timelines are warranted in this case. Any comments with respect to an expedited investigation should be submitted by 19 April 1999.

A schedule of events consisting of key dates is available from the Tribunal's internet web site, at http://www.citt.gc.ca.

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