A Canadian steel industry group said on Tuesday it would strongly oppose a petition filed by its U.S. counterpart urging anti-dumping duty on certain steel imports from Canada.

The Canadian Institute of Steel Construction (CISC) was responding to a petition filed by the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) asking for anti-dumping and countervailing duties on some fabricated structural steel from Canada, Mexico and China, alleging that the imports were hurting U.S. steel producers.

The petition was filed on Monday to the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC).
“AISC’s allegations that these products from Canada are unfairly traded and cause injury to U.S. producers of fabricated steel products are baseless,” Ed Whalen, chief executive officer of the CISC, said on Tuesday.

“The negative effects of the Section 232 steel tariffs are the more likely cause of injury for the U.S. downstream steel sector, not Canada.”

The USITC’s website on Tuesday showed that it was investigating these claims by AISC, listing the probe as “active.” Investigations do not always lead to new duties.

AISC could not be immediately reached for comment.