In 1950 C.T. Takahashi Inc., an import-export company based in Seattle and Tokyo, opened an office in Vancouver to gain access to the Canadian market. The office was managed by Roger Cheng and by 1953 C.T. Takahashi Inc. entered the pipe sector as the first business to import Japanese OCTG in to Canada. A key supplier at this time was Tokyo-based NKK corporation which now operating as JFE continues to be an important supplier to Cantak.