Government surcharges steel mixes used to evade punishments

In a bid to curb unfair competition from low-priced imported steel, the Executive Management Committee (Gecex) of Brazil’s Foreign Trade Chamber (Camex) has extended anti-dumping measures on two types of cold-rolled steel from China. The government identified that Chinese steelmakers were reducing copper and zinc levels in their products to evade higher import tariffs.

From 2013 to 2019, Camex had imposed a surcharge of $629.44 per ton on these products. However, the Foreign Trade Secretariat of the Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce, and Services (Secex-Mdic) discovered that Chinese exporters were manipulating the composition of their steel to evade the tariff.

Imports of steel with slight reductions in copper and zinc content, which were almost non-existent before the anti-dumping tariff, have surged by 500% in recent years.

Secex conducted a six-month investigation and found that these imports were designed to undermine the anti-dumping measures. In response, the government applied anti-circumvention legislation to extend the existing anti-dumping duties to this “new steel” variant.

Anti-Dumping Tariff

Authorized by the World Trade Organization (WTO), anti-dumping tariffs impose additional charges on products sold below cost to protect domestic industries from unfair foreign competition.

In recent months, Brazil has implemented various measures to reduce idleness in national steel mills. In February, Camex reinstated import tariffs on five items. In April, it announced one-year import quotas for 11 types of steel products and a 25% tax on imports exceeding these limits.

Following these announcements, Brazilian steel companies expressed their intention to invest R$100.2 billion in Brazil over the next five years.

According to Instituto Aço Brasil, from January to March, Brazil imported around 1.3 million tonnes of steel, an increase of 25.4% compared to the same period last year. The Brazilian steel industry has long criticized unfair competition from foreign steel, which has hampered domestic production growth.

Agência Brasil

Clique aqui para ler o texto original: https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/economia/noticia/2024-05/governo-sobretaxa-misturas-no-aco-usadas-para-burlar-punicoes

Sharing is caring!