Concluding its interim review of an order made on September 3, 2003 for stainless steel round bar, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal is amending its order to exclude a range of goods described below. The original order addressed bar ranging in diameter from 25 to 570 mm from the Federal Republic of Germany, France, India, Italy, Japan, Spain, Sweden, Chinese Taipei, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Korea..

The interim review was initiated following a request from Hitachi Canadian Industries Limited on April 1, 2004 requesting exclusion of the following products:

• KT5301ES20 - (trade name) or equivalent stainless steel round bar, hot-finished, oil-quenched, rough-machined in varying diameters.
• KT5321AS17 - (trade name) or equivalent stainless steel round bar, hot-rolled, quenched, varying diameters.
• KT5400AS6 - (trade name) or equivalent stainless steel round bar, Ni-Cr steel, hot-rolled and annealed, varying diameters.
• KT5401AS5 - (trade name) or equivalent stainless steel round bar, Cr-Ni-W-Cb steel, hot-finished rough-machined, varying diameters.
• KT5708AS2 (trade name) or equivalent stainless steel round bar, Cr-Ni-Mo-Ti-V, heat-rolled, solution-treated and double-aged, varying diameters.

The Tribunal received comments on Hitachi's request from Atlas Specialty Steels Inc. in which Atlas stated that it did not oppose the request. The Tribunal determined, on June 21, 2004, that an interim review was warranted and issued a notice of commencement of interim review to determine if the order should be amended. The Tribunal received no additional submissions, other than those already placed on the record.

Evidence indicates that Atlas does not oppose the request for exclusions. In its submission filed with the Tribunal, Atlas indicated that, in trying to restart the Welland, Ont., stainless steel bar facility, the exclusion of these specific products would not create problems for Atlas. In light of the evidence that the excluded products are not likely to cause or threaten to cause injury to the domestic industry, the Tribunal found it appropriate to exclude the products from the order.