Tariff body probes ‘dumping’ of cement from Vietnam

The Tariff Commission (TC) has initiated a review of the antidumping duty imposed on the importation of cement from Vietnam, three years after the government had ordered its implementation back in December 2022.

The independent adjudicatory body on trade remedy cases said the ad interim review had stemmed from the recommendation of the secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), as well as separate requests from local makers.

“Considering that both requests for interim review raised issues involving common questions of fact, said requests shall be consolidated and only one review shall be undertaken by the commission,” it said in an advisory on Wednesday.

READ: PH tariff regime up for major review

The review covers imported ordinary Portland cement type 1 and blended cement type 1P from Vietnam, where 94 percent of cement imports come from.

A preliminary conference has been scheduled by the TC on Dec. 6.

In Dec. 16, 2022, the DTI published a department administrative order requiring antidumping duties ranging from $3.85 per metric ton (MT) to $16.42 per MT for the two types of cement from Vietnam.

Antidumping duty is a form of trade remedy to correct unfair trade practices by exporters or brands intended to level the playing field in an industry.

At the time, the DTI said the volume of imports of these two cement types were similar to locally manufactured ones.

It added that the cement stocks dumped from Vietnam are not negligible, accounting for 53 percent of total Philippine cement imports from July 2019 to December 2020.

Not ‘materially injured’

While there were findings that the domestic cement industry had not been “materially injured” by Vietnam cement exports from 2017 to 2021, the DTI said the threat to the domestic industry is imminent in the near future.

The Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) on Wednesday expressed support toward the DTI motu proprio investigation on the reported increase in cement imports.

Citing data obtained from the DTI, the FPI said that imports had increased continuously from 2019 to 2023.

The business group noted that cement imports had increased by 10 percent in 2020, 17 percent in 2021 and 5 percent in 2023.

The Board of Investments (BOI) said that Vietnam’s share in the total volume of imported cement by the Philippines had risen to 93 percent today.

Indonesia is the second biggest source with a 5-percent share, while China has a 1-percent stake, according to the BOI.