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The Department of Trade and Industry suspended imposition of the definitive safeguard measure on high-density polyethylene imports
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The move follows the indefinite commercial shutdown of JG Summit Olefins Corporation, the sole domestic producer of HDPE products in the country
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The suspension aims to avert any supply disruption of HDPE products
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It will be effective for the remaining period of the imposition or until JGSOC resumes its normal operations, whichever comes earlier
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) suspended imposition of the definitive safeguard measure on high-density polyethylene (HDPE) imports.
The move follows the indefinite shutdown of JG Summit Olefins Corporation (JGSOC), the sole domestic producer of HDPE products in the country. In a letter to DTI last March, JGSOC confirmed the shutdown, but noted it expects to continue selling HDPE products from its existing inventory until the third quarter of 2025.
DTI Department Administrative Order (DAO) No. 25-08 dated July 11 said the suspension of the safeguard measure aims to avert any supply disruption of HDPE products.
The suspension is in effect for the remaining period of the imposition or until such time that JGSOC resumes its normal operations, whichever comes earlier. It will take effect upon the issuance of the relevant Bureau of Customs (BOC) order.
Imposition of the measure in the form of safeguard duty is already in its third year, having taken effect in 2023.
DAO 22-13, dated September 30, 2022, ordered the imposition of definitive safeguard duty on the HDPE pellets and granules from various countries for three years to prevent the imminent serious injury to the local HDPE industry. DAO 22-13 took effect upon the issuance BOC Customs Memorandum Order 02-2023 dated January 11, 2023.
DAO 22-13 is pursuant to the recommendation of the Tariff Commission (TC) after its formal investigation found “there exists an imminent threat of serious injury and significant overall impairment to the position of the domestic HDPE industry in the near future.”
It said this is shown by the significant increase in HDPE importations in 2021, “pointing to a high likelihood that substantially increased imports will continue into the near future.” It said there is also a high likelihood of higher exports of HDPEs to the country in the near future, as top suppliers of the product such as Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and Indonesia are diverting from their primary export markets and with the Philippines being an important alternative market.
The TC also noted that there was “significant deterioration in the overall position of the domestic HDPE market during the period of import surge,” adding that the increase in imports in the first half of 2021 was “recent, sudden, sharp, and significant enough.”
DTI is mandated by Republic Act No. 8800 (the Safeguard Measures Act) to protect the domestic industry from serious injury caused by a surge in imports.
The review came after JG Summit Petrochemical Corp.—now JGSOC after a merger between the two with the latter as the surviving company—in 2020 alleged that “serious injury to the domestic industry was caused by the increased volume of HDPE.
