30% steel tariff will boost growth – Mexican think-tank

BnAmericas | By: Samuel Williams.-

Mexico should double the import tariff on steel imports to boost economic growth, according local industrial development and economic growth think-tank IDIC.

The ministry of economy imposed a 15% tariff on 97 steel products in October in response to rising levels of dumping, with China seen as one of the main culprits.

The 180-day tariff, aimed at helping companies resume suspended investments in the sector, ends on April 6, but the ministry of economy is reportedly keen to «extend and increase» the tariff as it has been seen to be insufficient to halt dumping, according to Economía Hoy.

30% RATE

A 30% tariff on products linked to industrial metals sectors is a viable way of generating economic growth, boosting national value-added production, consumption and exports, IDIC said in a release.

A tariff at that level would see metal prices fall rather than rise and would thus not increase inflation, the institute added, citing its own studies and those by higher education institute El Colegio de México.

«Tackling the unfavorable situation for the national steel sector is imperative. If steel consumed in a country is produced locally there is a multiplier effect in various industries and the industrial metals supply chain,» IDIC director José Luis de la Cruz said. Source […]

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