DTI reviews imposition of tariff on newsprint

The Department of Trade and Industry is evaluating the appeals made by stakeholders who may be affected by the imposition of a safeguard duty on newsprint before it issues a final order.

Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo said several groups had asked the department to reconsider the slapping of an additional duty of P2,470 per metric ton (MT) on imported newsprint over the next three years, prompting it to set up a team to look into the matter.

“We’re now evaluating these appeals. A team has been talking to stakeholders. We will soon come up with the final order. We are rushing this and I am just waiting for the results of the study being made by our team. They’re still evaluating the situation,” Domingo said in an interview.

The Tariff Commission issued on Feb. 23 a report recommending the imposition of a definitive safeguard measure on imported newsprint. This was after the Commission found that the “domestic newsprint industry suffered serious injury from 2012 to September 2014” given the “abrupt and notably sharp increase in the volume of newsprint imported into the Philippines particularly in 2012.”

Tariff Commission chair Edgardo B. Abon earlier said the agency’s recommendation could no longer be overturned by the DTI, which was mandated by law to issue an order imposing a definitive safeguard duty on imported newsprint.

The only leeway that the DTI has, Abon said, was to change the amount of safeguard duty that will be imposed.

Abon said the respondents to the petition or those that were opposing the recommendation of the commission had the option to elevate their appeal to higher courts.

Last week, the United Print Media Group Inc. (UPMG) warned that the imposition of a safeguard duty on imported newsprint would not only seriously injure the print media industry, but would also jack up prices of textbooks, notebooks, and other educational materials.

The UPMG further warned that the additional safeguard duty would result in a 5-8 percent increase in the operational costs of newspaper and magazine publications. It will also jack up the prices of notebooks, textbooks, and other educational materials that use newsprint.