Labor group chides Tariff Commission for ‘flawed’ assessment of auto industry

ALABOR group hit the Tariff Commission for its “flawed” assessment, which led to its recommendation for the lifting of the safeguard measure for the automobile industry.

In a statement, the Philippine Metal Workers Alliance (PMWA) accused the Tariff Commission of “ignoring” data on the surge in imported cars from 2014 to 2019.

The PMWA noted that the 103,907 imported completely buildup motor vehicles in 2014 increased to 221,746 by 2019.

The PMWA also criticized the TC for including the 2020 data in its assessment the disruption caused by the pandemic in the supply chain of imported automobiles.

“The Tariff Commission stood by the erroneous conclusion in its preliminary report on the investigation on the surge in imports of automotive vehicles, and adopted the same findings in its final report,” PMWA National President Ruel Punzalan was quoted in a statement as saying. “In the preliminary report, the Tariff Commission dismissed workers’ claims about the sharp increase in vehicle imports in recent years despite being supported by the vehicle import data generated by the Tariff Commission itself.”

The Commission recommended to the Department and Trade and Industry (DTI) to remove the provisional safeguard duties it imposed for imported cars, upon the petition of the PMWA to protect the jobs in the local car manufacturing industry.

Punzalan questions the Commission’s decision as well as the absence of public hearings “that could have allowed stakeholders, like automobile workers, to dispute its conclusions.” “As such, [we are] adamant in demanding that [Trade Secretary Ramon M.] Lopez should reject the Tariff Commission’s recommendations,” Punzalan said.