Government imposes tariff on imports of iron and steel bars from the Andean Community

by times news cr

2024-10-07 02:31:21

The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism (MinCIT) announced the implementation of a safeguard measure to protect the national steel industry against unfair competition from imports of corrugated iron or steel bars from the countries of the Andean Community ( CAN), mainly from Peru.

Through Decree 1227 of October 3, 2024, the government of President Gustavo Petro established a tariff of 14.5% for imports that exceed the annual quota of 29,529.03 tons. This tariff will be in force for the next two years as a special measure to strengthen the Colombian industry.

The Minister of Commerce, Luis Carlos Reyes Hernández, explained that this decision was made after a technical investigation requested by the steel industry, in which a 19% increase in imports from the CAN was detected. In addition, it was evident that the prices per ton of these imports were reduced by 7%, generating competitive pressure that has seriously affected the local industry.

“The investigation revealed that the sales price for the first distributor of these imports was between 2.26% and 6.26% lower than the price of the national producer. This caused a 13.1% drop in sales in the Colombian industry,” explained Reyes Hernández. “With this safeguard, we seek to provide stability to our industry, allowing it to grow and consolidate, while we move towards a green steel industry with more added value.”

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Impact on social housing

The measure was adopted after a joint analysis with the Ministry of Housing, City and Territory, which determined that the impact on the construction costs of social housing (VIS) would be minimal, estimating an increase of up to 1.4% in the final price of these homes.

“The government is committed to fair and balanced trade that benefits both our trading partners and the industrialization of Colombia,” said the minister, highlighting the State’s support for the national industry through the steel pact. This pact includes the development of studies for the production of flat steel in Colombia, with a low carbon footprint, with a view to positioning the country in this key sector for the economy.

Imports in figures

According to data from the MinCIT, in 2022, 37,778 tons of corrugated iron and steel bars entered the country from the Andean Community, and in 2023 the figure was 33,654.5 tons, of which 99.4% came from Peru. In the first half of 2024, the imported volume reached 20,548.7 tons.

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