DTI slaps duties on cement from China, Indonesia

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Trade and Industry imposed P349-per-ton safeguard duties on cement imports from China and Indonesia after shipments exceeded exemption thresholds.

DTI announced the change through Department Administrative Order No. 26-03, dated May 20, which expanded the safeguard duty on ordinary portland cement and blended cement to include China and Indonesia.

READ: Safeguard duty on cement won’t raise prices, say firms

Under existing rules, developing countries are exempt from the safeguard measure if their share of total imports of the product remains below 3 percent.

However, DTI monitoring showed that China’s share of cement imports rose to 11 percent in 2025 and further climbed to 23 percent in the first quarter of 2026. Indonesia’s share, meanwhile, increased to 6 percent in 2025 and reached 8 percent during the same period.

The surge pushed both countries beyond the de minimis threshold, removing them from the exemption list. As a result, imports from China and Indonesia will be subject to a safeguard duty equivalent to P14 per 40-kilogram bag during the first year of application.

By comparison, Vietnam remained the Philippines’ largest source of cement imports, although its share had declined to 63 percent in the first quarter of 2026 from 79 percent in 2025.

The DTI said the composition of countries covered by the exemption list may still change following future reviews of import data.

The safeguard measure follows a 2025 DTI order after a surge in cement imports from 2023 hurt the domestic industry.

“There is a direct causal relationship between increased imports of cement and the significant impairment in the position of the domestic cement industry,” the DTI had said. “The local industry incurred considerable losses from operations while market share, sales, production, and capacity utilization deteriorated to lowest levels.”

Reacting to the inclusion of China and Indonesia, the Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CeMAP) said the move removed the “undue advantage” previously enjoyed by imports from the two countries.

It was also a “long-awaited correction” that Cemap said “restores fairness, strengthens local manufacturing, and protects Filipino jobs.”

“The Philippine cement industry continues to struggle with low utilization rates of just 53 percent, despite significant investments and a total installed capacity of 53 million tons,” Cemap executive director Renato Baja said. “Safeguard measures is also crucial for Filipino livelihoods, national industry resilience, and the country’s long‑term economic strength.”