Sigh of relief

The Department of Trade and Industry has just announced the impending imposition of definitive safeguard duties on cement imports in a bid to ensure a level playing field and protect the local cement industry.

- MARY ANN LL. REYES

According to the DTI, imported cement will be levied a safeguard duty of P14 per 40-kilo bag of Ordinary Portland Cement 1 and Blended Cement, equivalent to P349 per metric ton and to be in place for three years, basically adopting the recommendation of the Tariff Commission which conducted a formal investigation on the imposition of these duties on importations of these two types of cement.

This is on top of the definitive anti-dumping duties imposed by the DTI on specific Vietnamese exports of Type 1 and Type 1P cement for a period of five years beginning in March 2023.

The Tariff Commission (TC) on Sept. 30 recommended the application of the appropriate definitive general safeguard measures in the form of a duty on importations of cement for a period of three years to redress the serious injury directly attributed to the importation of cement into the Philippines in increased quantities, by providing temporary relief and giving the local cement industry a reasonable period to adjust to increased import competition.

The commission further recommended a specific duty of P349 per metric ton (MT) or P14 per 40-kilo bag, corresponding to the difference between the weighted average on ex-importers’ store price of imported cement and the weighted average domestic ex-plant selling price of the local cement industry for 2024.

It clarified that although the proposed specific duty shall be applied equally on all cement imports regardless of source, the equivalent ad valorem rate will vary depending on the value of the shipment so that the safeguard measure will have a greater impact on lower-priced cement imports.