The Costa Rican ministry of economy, industry and commerce (MEIC), said this week it will not impose safeguarding duties on imports of rebar, following a request from local steelmaker ArcelorMittal Costa Rica.
MEIC said it started a safeguarding investigation into the imports of the product on April 2 this year and finished the probe on December 2, finding no evidence the imports of the product were harming the domestic steel industry. MEIC said Costa Rican rebar imports actually declined in the 2015-2017 period.
ArcelorMittal Costa Rica claimed there had been a massive increase in the imports of rebar due to the world’s steel production surplus, which was reportedly reducing the product’s price in the global market.
As a result, MEIC concluded the investigation and decided not to impose duties as requested by ArcelorMittal Costa Rica.