Philippines imposes import tax on cement, what does the trade office recommend?

Regarding the Philippines' imposition of tax on imported cement, the trade office recommends that Vietnamese export enterprises need to coordinate the investigation to avoid disadvantages.

33 cement exporting enterprises to the Philippines are subject to tax

As previously reported, on February 20, 2025, the Minister of Trade and Industry of the Philippines issued Order No. 25-01 imposing a temporary safeguard duty of 400 pesos/ton (equivalent to 6.9 USD) on two types of imported cement to protect domestically produced cement.

Specifically, according to Order No. 25-01, the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry initiated a safeguard investigation on two types of cement imported from several countries, including portland cement (AHNT Code 2523.29.90) and blended cement (AHNT Code 2523.90.00) under the ASEAN Harmonized Tariff Nomenclature (AHNT).

The investigation was conducted on the two types of imported cement mentioned above in the period 2019 - 2024.

The Philippine Ministry of Trade and Industry has identified 33 cement exporting enterprises to this market, including Vietnamese enterprises. Photo: Nhat Hoang

Pursuant to the Act of this country and based on the evidence collected and information provided by the relevant parties, after the preliminary investigation, the Philippines decided to apply a temporary safeguard duty of 400 pesos/ton or 16 pesos/40 kg bag on cement types with code AHNT Code 2523.29.90 and AHNT Code 2523.90.00 during the time the Philippine Tax Commission conducts an official investigation.

The temporary safeguard duty will be applied for a period of 200 days from the date the Philippine Bureau of Customs issues the Duty Order. The Ministry of Industry and Trade lists countries and territories exempted from the temporary safeguard duty, but Vietnam is not on the list of exempted countries.

Coordinate investigation to avoid unnecessary damage

Regarding this incident, at noon on March 4, answering a question from a reporter of the Industry and Trade Newspaper, Mr. Phung Van Thanh - Trade Counselor of the Vietnam Trade Office in the Philippines - said that according to the investigation report, during the preliminary investigation, the Philippine Ministry of Industry and Trade identified the identities of 33 enterprises exporting cement to the Philippine market, including Vietnamese enterprises.

“The Philippine Ministry of Industry and Trade sent a questionnaire, however, only 9/33 export enterprises responded to the questionnaire, including 6 Vietnamese export enterprises” - Trade Counselor Phung Van Thanh informed.

In the preliminary investigation report released by the Philippine Ministry of Industry and Trade, every year, Vietnamese cement accounts for the largest market share in the total cement imported into the Philippines.

Specifically, in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, Vietnam's cement exports to the Philippine market were 4.23 million tons, 5.37 million tons, 6.38 million tons, 6.34 million tons, 6.87 million tons and 7.20 million tons, respectively, accounting for market shares of 79.41%, 91.41%, 92.59%, 94.76%, 98.09% and 94.40% of the total cement imports of the Philippines.

With the figures stated in the report, the Philippines' Ministry of Industry and Trade's temporary imposition of safeguard tax on imported cement will significantly affect Vietnam's cement exports.

To minimize unnecessary losses, Commercial Counselor Phung Van Thanh recommends that in the upcoming official investigation phase conducted by the Tax Committee, Vietnamese export enterprises should pay attention to coordinating to provide information to the investigation agency to avoid the case of the investigation agency making unfavorable decisions based on incomplete information or information that they have available.

Mr. Phung Van Thanh said that the main content of the safeguard investigation is that the investigating agency will consider and assess the level of "serious damage" to the domestic manufacturing industry due to the impact of imported cement.

Therefore, there is a need for a representative of cement industry enterprises to organize for enterprises to jointly review, provide information and have a common voice with the Philippine investigation agency in reviewing and analyzing the actual "serious damages", and the causal relationship between these damages and the increase in the volume of imported cement.

Every year, Vietnamese cement accounts for the largest market share of total cement imported into the Philippines.

Specifically, in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, Vietnam's cement exports to the Philippine market were 4.23 million tons, 5.37 million tons, 6.38 million tons, 6.34 million tons, 6.87 million tons and 7.20 million tons, respectively, accounting for market shares of 79.41%, 91.41%, 92.59%, 94.76%, 98.09% and 94.40% of the total cement imports of the Philippines.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/philippines-ap-thue-xi-mang-nhap-khau-thuong-vu-khuyen-cao-gi-376705.html