BOC slaps provisional anti-dumping duty on Vietnamese cement

Bureau of Customs. (File photo from Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines—The Bureau of Customs (BOC) is now charging provisional anti-dumping duty on cement imports from Vietnam, which domestic manufacturers had claimed were hurting the local industry.

Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero said in a Dec. 20 memorandum that the temporary additional tariff — in the form of a cash bond — shall be imposed for four months since the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) administrative order took effect last Nov. 29.

The DTI order said ordinary Portland cement type 1 and blended cement type 1P from Vietnam were being dumped — sold at lower prices abroad compared to normal value — in the Philippines.

Domestic players had alleged that dumping of Vietnamese cement was causing material injury to local manufacturers producing similar products, as locally produced cement lost market share to cheaper imports.

In its preliminary investigation, the DTI affirmed the injury inflicted by Vietnamese imports on domestic cement makers.

The DTI had computed dumping margins, or the amount of bonds that have to be paid for imported Vietnamese cement, as low as $0.73 per metric ton and as high as $12.79 per MT.

The Tariff Commission was currently formally investigating this anti-dumping complaint, to determine a definitive additional duty on cement imports from Vietnam and protect local producers.

In a separate Dec. 16 letter to Guerrero, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, who oversees the BOC, endorsed the imposition of the provisional anti-dumping duty.

TSB