Arguing that there is no serious injury to the domestic production, the Ministry of Economy of Guatemala decided that it is not appropriate to impose the safeguard requested by a local company on the import of rolled products.
It was found that there is no Serious Injury to the total national production of "flat rolled products of other alloy steels, of a width greater or equal to 600 mm", which are classified in the tariff items 7225.91.00, 7225.92.00 and 7225.99.00 of the Central American Tariff System (SAC), according to official information.
During the first half of 2019, imports of iron and steel sheets in the countries of the region totaled $446 million, and purchases from companies in Mexico increased by 24% over the same period in 2018.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with graphics"]
Importers of rolled products in Guatemala demand objectivity in the investigation conducted by the Ministry of Economy to determine whether or not to apply a safeguard to the import of these products.
Derived from the request made by the company Ternium, for the Directorate of Foreign Trade Administration (DACE) to carry out an economic study of the import of rolled products in the country, which has as its main objective, to establish if appropriate a safeguard measure, companies such as Ferromax and Grupo Ferroso, SA, require that the results of the investigation are objective and respond to the real situation of the market.
At the request of Ternium, the Guatemalan Ministry of Economy conducts an import investigation to determine whether or not a safeguard can be applied, a measure opposed by the commercial sector.
In February 2018, the company Ternium submitted to the authorities a request for the Directorate of Foreign Trade Administration (DACE) to carry out an economic study of the import of rolled products into the country, which has as its main objective, to establish whether a safeguard measure is appropriate.
During the last year, imports of iron and steel sheets in the countries of the region totaled $941 million, 13% more than in 2017, a rise explained by purchases made from companies in China.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with graphic"]
In the first nine months of 2018, purchases of iron and steel sheets in the countries of the region totaled $718 million, 9% more than in the same period in 2017.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with the graphic"]
In 2016, imports of iron and steel sheets totaled $124 million, and the value imported from Guatemala grew by 58% with respect to 2015.
Figures from the information system on the Market for Iron and Steel Sheets in Honduras, compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with the graph"]