The consumer rights group United Filipino Consumers and Commuters appealed to the government to scrap the provisional safeguard duty of P400 per metric ton or P16 per 40-kilo bag on two types of imported cement.
While the Department of Trade and Industry noted a “causal link” between increased imports of ordinary Portland cement and blended cement from 2019 to June 2024, UFCC president RJ Javellana said the move will result in pass-through costs to end-users and higher cement prices.
“Consumers will bear the brunt of the P16 additional tariff per 40-kilo bag of cement. This will be in the form of pass-through costs by business owners,” Javellana said in a statement.
“This will result in higher cement prices, which would have a domino effect on other construction products,” he added.
The consumer rights advocate warned the only ones who will benefit from the tariffs are big businesses who can manipulate cement prices.
The DTI order exempted over 190 foreign sources, but excluded Vietnam and Indonesia which are the top two sources of cement import.
China, which is in third place, was included in the exemption list.
