DTI lowers duties on imported newsprint
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has issued an order imposing safeguard duties lower than the Tariff Commission’s recommended rate on imported newsprint.
DTI Bureau of Import Services director Luis Catibayan said in a chance interview, an order which imposes safeguard duties on imported newsprint used in newspapers was published last week.
Under the order, a duty amounting to P980 per metric ton of imported newsprint, would be imposed on the first year as a form of safeguard measure, he said.
The duty would be reduced to around P800 for the second year of implementation and cut further to P640 on the third year, he added.
“But we would review it every year to determine whether there is a need to change the amount, depending on the results of the review,” Catibayan said.
He said the safeguard duties would not apply to newsprint imports to be used for textbooks in public schools.
In setting duties lower than the recommended P2,470 per metric ton which the TC recommended for three years, the DTI took into account the public interest.
“When imposing a (safeguard) measure, it has to be in the public interest and one of the public interest considerations would be the effect on downstream industries that are using paper,” Catibayan said.
He said the DTI’s study showed the price difference between locally made and imported newsprint were not as high as what the TC found from their own review.
The DTI’s study looked into the prices for one year, while the TC’s review covered data for a shorter period from January to September 2014.
The safeguard duties are being imposed following a petition filed by the domestic industry, represented by dominant player Trust International Paper Corp., for safeguard measures on claims increased imports have threatened local players.
Under Republic Act 8800 or the Safeguard Measures Act, the country can impose safeguard measures or higher duties on imported goods when increased volumes of such are found to cause injury to the domestic industry.