THE Tariff Commission (TC) said on Tuesday that it launched formal proceedings to determine whether to impose safeguard duties on imports of ordinary Portland cement and blended cement from various countries.

“(This follows the) receipt of the request from the Secretary of Trade and Industry and the complete case records,” the TC said in a notice.

“Relative thereto, a preliminary conference is hereby scheduled on March 13 at 10 a.m.,” it added.

Last month, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) issued an order imposing provisional safeguard duties of P400 per metric ton or P16 per 40-kilogram bag in the form of a cash bond on imports of ordinary Portland cement and blended cement.

According to Department Administrative Order No. 25-01, the provisional duties apply to those classified under AHTN Code Nos. 2523.29.90 and 2523.90.00.

They will be in force for 200 days from the date of issuance by the Bureau of Customs of a Customs Memorandum Order or Circular.

“This decision is based on the affirmative findings after conducting the preliminary safeguard measures investigation and considering the submissions of interested parties and pieces of evidence made available to the department,” the DTI said.

Citing findings from the period of investigation (PoI) between 2019 and to 2024, the DTI said that the market share of domestic cement producers decreased from almost 78% in 2019 to almost 68% in 2023.

Imports are estimated to have displaced Philippine-made cement, taking the 22% market share of imports in 2019 to 32% in 2023.

It resulted in the domestic industry’s declining sales, production, capacity utilization, profitability, and employment, the DTI said.

“The condition of the domestic industry worsened in 2023 when imports recorded their highest market share at 32% while the domestic industry shrank to the lowest level of sales,” it said.

“In addition, the domestic industry’s lowering of prices even with the rising cost of production to compete with the imports has impacted the domestic industry’s profitability, recording its first operating loss in the PoI,” it added.

Currently, the Philippines imposes an anti-dumping duty against cement imports from Vietnam, which accounted for 94% of cement imports in 2024. — Justine Irish D. Tabile