Steel firms oppose tariff wall for NSC

The Philippine Iron and Steel Institute (PISI) opposes the government’s decision to grant tariff protection for products of the National Steel Corp. (NSC), saying that despite the NSC’s closure, the local steel industry has continued to operate normally.

PISI president Wellington Y. Tong said yesterday "that despite the closure of the NSC, the local steel industry has continued to survive by operating as efficiently as possible by slashing costs, investing in modern equipment, being better attuned to the market and freely procuring competitively priced input materials from the most suitable global supplier."

Tong stressed "the local steel industry disproved unfounded fears and earlier rumors that it would shut down in the event of an NSC closure," adding that "NSC was a significant part of the Philippine steel industry while it was operational."

Aside from NSC, there are approximately 782 other steel manufacturing companies with an estimated direct employment of 62,000 workers and a total investment of P62.25 billion.

Tong warned if high tariff rates will be imposed on vital raw materials, import cost would increase which could adversely affect the local steel manufacturing industry.

"Such an event would weaken the global competitiveness of the entire local steel manufacturing industry," he said.

"If government increases tariffs to prop up NSC, this will mean higher cost of inputs which, in turn, will translate into more costly steel products," the PISI chief said.

Instead, Tong is proposing that government should let NSC avail of tax holiday and tax breaks, "but it must not be artificially propped up by undeserved incentives, particularly tariffs, that tend to increase vital input cost of downstream manufacturers."