[ Malaya.com .ph ] May 8, 2009
The Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) yesterday warned against a possible import surge of steel products following the grant of rebates to Chinese exporters.
FPI president Jesus Arranza said the export rebate program, which took effect April 1, grants 13 to 17 percent refund for Chinese steel exports.
Arranza said this poses an imminent threat to domestic producers because it would make Chinese steel products a lot cheaper.
He said the government should start taking proactive measures that will protect local manufacturers from further surge in imports of Chinese steel products.
"The government should not wait until our industries suffer more injuries from import surge before taking action. It is now time to think of the welfare of the Filipino workers, the Philippine economy, and the country as a whole. If we will not respond to this immediately, the Philippines will become a mere importing country and will be at the mercy of other countries for an important industry like steel," Arranza said.
Under the rebate program, for every $1,000 per metric ton worth of shipment, Chinese exporters only need to sell their steel products to the international market to as low as $830 because they just have to claim the $170 from their government..
Arranza said compounding this is the lower 0 to 5 percent tariff that the country is now imposing on various steel products from China under the Asean-China free trade agreement.
He said local manufacturers of steel angle bars, for example, are saying that based on their latest computation, the price of Chinese imports is about P14, 000 cheaper per ton than their actual production cost.
The industry is seeking a safeguard duty of about P14 per kilo for imported steel angle bars. The Tariff Commission is now hearing the case and will be making a recommendation within 200 days.
Arranza said the P1 per ton provisional safeguard duty for below 80-millimeter angle bars imposed recently by the Department of Trade and Industry is very negligible.
"We view with utmost concern and surprise the amount imposed by the DTI, which is supposed to deter the import surge. Imposing a P0.001 per kilo additional duty will surely not arrest the surge," Arranza said.
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