Mexico has suspended the temporary importation of pipe and plate, working to establish a system of temporary import bond. In the coming days, the government will announce antidumping duties for cold-rolled sheet against four countries and pipe from three countries, consulting with the Mexican Chamber Steel (CANACERO).
The Minister of Economy, Ildefonso Guajardo, met Tuesday with President of the Mexican Chamber of Steel (CANACERO), Guillermo Vogel, president of Altos Hornos de Mexico (AHMSA), Alonso Ancira, and directors of TenarisTamsa, Ternium, ArcelorMittal, Villacero, and Tubacero.
At the meeting, the steel industry stressed the difficult situation facing the sector, compounded by imports at dumped prices.
Guajardo acknowledged that "temporary imports have been used by some introducers way to avoid surveillance and sanction of the authorities in the country's steel revenue under unfair conditions and represent a loss to the industry and the treasury itself."
Vogel said that the artificial low prices and overproduction and triangulation from China and Korea are affecting all international steel markets, which has placed the sector worldwide in a very unstable situation, which is compounded in the case of Mexico for its opening of borders.
Guajardo said that in four weeks he will conduct a review of the results of these measures and their failure to stop the damage, and determine whether radical actions must be taken to protect the entire steel chain from unfair trade.
Among the measures announced are:
- Accelerate antidumping investigations underway in the Unit of International Trade Practices (UPCI).
- Start the redefinition of investigation procedures fro unfair trade, to simplify and match those of our trading partners, which have more modern defense instruments.
- Reduction of requirements for initiating an antidumping investigation.
- Decreased time resolution of investigations.
- Eliminating double-digit numbers of antidumping tariffs, which will bring together more products in the same research.
- Allow the accumulation of countries during the process and products including alloys
- Establish a countervailing duty retroactively from the beginning of the investigation.