The Tariff Commission (TC) will launch an interim review of anti-dumping duties on cement imports from Vietnam following concerns from local cement makers about the influx of cheap imports potentially harming the domestic industry.
Based on a notice issued by the TC on Wednesday, a review on the Ordinary Portland Cement Type 1 and Blended Cement Type 1P from Vietnam will be set.
The domestic petitioners — Republic Cement & Building Materials, Inc., Holcim Philippines Inc., and CEMEX Holdings Philippines, Inc. — have requested an expansion of the measure to include Blended Cement Type 1T and certain foreign exporters previously excluded.
Meanwhile, NCL Trading Joint Stock Company, a foreign exporter, seeks a review of duties specifically on Ordinary Portland Cement Type 1.
Due to overlapping issues in the two requests, the TC has consolidated them into a single review aligned with the procedural rules under the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure as amended in 2019.
As such, the domestic industry will serve as the petitioner in this consolidated case.
The review follows the provisions of Republic Act 8752, or the Anti-Dumping Act of 1999, as adopted in Section 711 of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act. It aims to evaluate the continued imposition of anti-dumping measures in light of changing circumstances.
Conference set 6 December
The Commission has scheduled a preliminary conference on 6 December to address procedural matters, including investigation timelines, document confidentiality, witness appearances, and schedules for public hearings.
All interested parties, including those previously involved in the formal investigation, are required to attend the conference. Participants must register by 5 December.
To recall, cement makers had been pushing for the imposition of safeguard measures on cement as cheap imports continued to flood the market.
The Bureau of Customs reported that cement imports totaled 6.2 million tons from January to October, a 5 percent increase from the previous year. October alone saw a record-high of 870,000 tons.
Vietnam accounted for 94 percent of the imports, with smaller shares coming from Japan at 5 percent and Indonesia at 1 percent.