Tariffs on cement imports to hike inflation

QUEZON CITY, Philippines — Consumers may soon feel the pinch in construction costs as emergency tariffs on imported cement are set to take effect.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) imposed the tariffs following preliminary findings from a safety measures investigation on cement imports from various countries.

The United Filipino Consumers and Commuters (UFCC) has called for the scrapping of the tariff, which amounts to P400 per metric ton or P16 per 40-kilo bag of blended cement and ordinary Portland cement.

UFCC warned that the additional cost would likely be passed on to end-users, resulting in higher cement prices and contributing to inflation, even as the DTI argued that rising import volumes have hurt the domestic cement industry.

UFCC President RJ Javellana said that the P16 increase per bag will ultimately burden ordinary consumers, triggering a domino effect across other construction materials.

“Kapag gumalaw ang presyo ng semento o bakal, halos gumagalaw ang presyo ng iba pang produkto sa hardware store,” he said.

The consumer rights group also cautioned that big businesses, able to manipulate cement prices, could be the main beneficiaries of the tariff.

Javellana urged the government to balance the interests of both consumers and producers to prevent inflation and curb market control by cement cartels, citing past instances of price manipulation in the sector.