Safeguard duty on cement at P225/MT

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has imposed a definitive tax on imported cement that will gradually decrease within three years, sticking to its resolve to defend large local cement players.

In the first year, the safeguard duty on imported cement will be P250 a metric ton (MT) or P10 a 40-kilo bag, a copy of the DTI directive read.

In the second year, this will drop to P225 a MT or P9 a 40-kilo bag, and then to P200 a MT or P8 a 40-kilo bag. Trade Secretary Lopez showed a part of this document to reporters on Tuesday.

The final rates are lower than the recommendation made by the Tariff Commission (TC), which after a months-long review suggested a tariff of P297 a MT or P12 a 40-kilo bag.

Moreover, the final rates are closer to the provisional safeguard duty of P210 a MT or P8.40 a 40-kilo bag that the DTI imposed earlier this year while the TC probe was ongoing.