CTRM suspends action on petition to remove duties on imported cement

By Max V. de Leon

THE Cabinet Committee on Tariff and Related Matters (CTRM) is suspending action on the petition to eliminate duties on imported cement on a seasonal basis until the congressional committees investigating the alleged unjustifiable increases in the prices of cement in the country have finished their recommendations.

A ranking trade official said this was the decision that the CTRM arrived at in its latest discussion on the matter, although there was already a leaning toward a favorable action on the petition to seasonally remove the tariff on cement as a way to arrest the escalating prices of cement by introducing more competition into the market.

“We can’t move separately while the Congress is acting on it. We don’t want to preempt Congress,” the source told the BusinessMirror.

Anyway, the official said the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is among the resource speakers in the ongoing congressional hearings on the high price of cement so the work of the CTRM will also be serving as input on the would-be recommendations of Congress.

While the hearings are proceeding, the source said the CTRM will probably just conduct its own study “and then we will make sure that this will be reconciled with the findings of the lawmakers.”

Earlier, the Tariff Commission submitted to the CTRM a positive recommendation on the seasonal removal of tariff imposed on imported cement after conducting a public hearing.

The source said the problem with this lies on the determination of the trigger price that will serve as basis for the tariff elimination.

The official said this is unlike the case of oil and other commodities in which the government can easily get a benchmark on the real prevailing prices since they are traded in the world market.

For cement, the official said one option they are looking at is to be in close coordination with the Philippine commercial attaches in other countries so there will be a constant monitoring of the prices of cement internationally.

If Congress’s recommendation will be to institute tariff-related measures as a safeguard to inflating prices of cement in the country, then the CTRM will reconcile its studies and findings with those of the lawmakers, the source said.

Aside from this, the source said the congressmen can also pass a law on what they believe is the best solution to this problem.

CTRM suspends action on petition to remove duties on imported cement

THE Cabinet Committee on Tariff and Related Matters (CTRM) is suspending action on the petition to eliminate duties on imported cement on a seasonal basis until the congressional committees investigating the alleged unjustifiable increases in the prices of cement in the country have finished their recommendations.

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