Previous Developments

Michele Sherman Davenport represented the Canadian province of Saskatchewan in an important recent victory with significant implications for dispute settlement under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The case, Canadian Wheat Board v. United States, successfully challenged the United States' refusal to properly implement the ruling of a binational panel under NAFTA Chapter 19. In refusing to give full effect to the NAFTA panel's ruling, the United States had called into question the efficacy of the NAFTA dispute settlement system.

The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled in favor of the Canadian parties and ordered the United States to implement retroactive as well as prospective relief. The United States appealed this decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals to the Federal Circuit. In April, 2011, the Court of Appeals decisively affirmed the lower court’s ruling, describing the United States’ actions as “bizarre and unfair”.

As a result of this decision, all duties previously deposited by the Canadian Wheat Board will be returned, giving Canadian wheat producers the full benefit of the NAFTA panel’s ruling.

Saskatchewan is Canada’s most important grain-producing region, supplying 10% of the world’s exported wheat. Michele Sherman Davenport successfully represented the province in the underlying trade dispute and in these appeals.