Flat glass maker seeks tariff protection

The country’s lone flat glass maker said it might shut down operations because it couldn’t compete with the surge in cheaper imports, unless the government decides to further tax its competition.

Pioneer Float Glass Manufacturing, Inc. is asking the Tariff Commission to impose a definitive safeguard measure against imported flat glass, which, a top official said, is around 30 percent cheaper than local products.

On Tuesday’s hearing, Pioneer’s legal counsel said the company had been operating at a loss, putting it in danger of closing down due to imports. This, the legal counsel said, is why the company is asking for a safeguard measure.

Safeguard measures are imposed when a local industry is either hurt or is threatened to get hurt by a surge in imports. In this case, the Department of Trade and Industry last year said Pioneer suffered from the surge in imports in flat glass from 2013 to 2017. A duty against imports of around P2,500 to P2,800 a metric ton has been in place since last year.

The company used to corner around 80 percent of the market in the 1990s, he said, but its market share had gone down to around 40 percent. INQ