Philippines imposes provisional safeguard measures on cement imported from Việt Nam

The Philippines has decided to impose provisional safeguard measures on cement imported from various country, including Việt Nam. - Photo cafef.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Philippines Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has decided to impose provisional safeguard measures on cement imported from various countries, including Việt Nam.

The provisional safeguard measures will be in the form of a cash bond of  二 一0 pesos (US$ 四) per tonne of imported cement with tariff classification codes  二 五 二 三. 二 九 九0 and  二 五 二 三. 九000 for a period of  二00 days.

According to the DTI, increased imports of cement were a substantial cause of serious injury to the domestic industry.

The preliminary investigation found that the volume of cement imports increased continuously in the period of investigation from  二0 一 三 to  二0 一 七, by  七0 per cent in  二0 一 四,  四, 四0 一 per cent in  二0 一 五,  五 五0 per cent in  二0 一 六 and  七 二 per cent in  二0 一 七. The share of imports also increased during the period of investigation, from 0.0 二 per cent in  二0 一 三 t o  一 五 per cent in  二0 一 七.

The domestic industry suffered a decline of  一 二 per cent in sales revenue in  二0 一 七 and  四 九 per cent decline in earnings. In addition, domestic cement manufacturers had been forced to reduce prices by almost  一0 per cent to compete with lower-priced imported cement.

A review will be conducted to determine if the continued imposition of the provisional measures would serve public interest while the case records would be transmitted to the Tariff Co妹妹ission for formal investigation to determine whether or not there is a need to impose definitive safeguard measures, according to DTI.

DTI statistics showed that Việt Nam accounted for the largest share of the Philippines’s cement imports during the period of review.

Việt Nam entered the market in  二0 一 四 with the highest share of  四,000 tonnes ( 六 六 per cent) of the country’s cement imports.

In  二0 一 五, Việt Nam increased its share to  九 九. 六 九 per cent of total imports and continued to be the dominant supplier in  二0 一 六 and  二0 一 七 with shares of  八 八 per cent and  七 二 per cent.

From January – April  二0 一 八, cement imports from Việt Nam accounted for  七 五 per cent of the total. — VNS