The Competitiveness Committee of the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico demanded that the Ministry of Economy (SE) apply countervailing duties to prevent illegal imports of steel from countries that do not have trade agreements with Mexico. The committee alleges that such imports continue to affect the industry, threatening many of the 720,000 direct and indirect jobs generated by the sector.
Deputy Adolfo Orive, chairman of the committee, reported that in 2012 these imports grew 38.1 percent compared to 2011 and due to the unfair practices of other nations, sector production fell 2 percent last year.
He announced that the Competitiveness Commission subpoenaed Victor Manuel Perez Aguilar, Head of International Trade Practices Unit of the SE, to report on the state of the antidumping duties against those nations, and report on the actions Mexico adopted in support of steel companies.
He argued that the deputies asked the official to explain why the Mexican government has not acted against illegal practices of "dumping" and subsidies among others that hurt domestic producers, and to say the reasons why it has not streamlined customs surveillance.
Orive suggested that the Ministry also require the establishment of antidumping duties equal to the margins of "dumping" and provisional findings where evidence of unfair competition from imports exist.
Also, he said the Ministry should implement the retroactive application of quotas to the start date of the research, and reduce of the minimum requirements for declaring the start of a research and publication.
Similarly, the imposition of quotas should cover compensatory steels containing 0.0008 percent boron or, where appropriate, elimination of 72.25 and 72.26 fractions ally boron steel.
Orive reported that Korea exported 788,000 tons of steel to Mexico in 2012; China exported 470,000 tons; and Russia exported 449 000 tons, significantly damaging the domestic steel industry, which represents 2.6 percent of the total GDP and 15 percent of manufacturing.
He said that the steel sector in Mexico is one of the few that has practically zero percent tariffs with all countries of the world and not just the members of the World Trade Organization (WTO), while items such as automobiles have 30 percent.
The congressman recalled that Article 3.2 of the WTO Anti-Dumping Agreement authorizes the accumulation, by product and country, imports to implement these antidumping duties.
He therefore urges members of Ministry of Economy to strictly apply countervailing duties to restore competitive conditions as unfair practices, especially involving China and Russia.