(Bloomberg) -- Mexico will impose a 36.23% tariff on imports of steel wire used for welding from Vietnam, saying they are harming local producers in Latin America’s second-largest economy.
The economy ministry alleged Vietnam was “dumping” steel wire in Mexico, meaning exporting it at below-cost prices. The decision, announced Monday in the national gazette, is the latest move by Mexico to limit Asian imports, after placing fees on Chinese steel and on cheap clothing. The government also recently raided a shopping mall that sells low-cost Asian products in Mexico City and pledged to carry out more actions to protect local industry.
The government said it had carried out an investigation since late 2023, after Mexican firms Electrodos Infra SA de CV and Plasticos y Alambres SA de CV complained about unfairly priced imports of steel wire. The companies argued that the national industry would “deteriorate” if imports from Vietnam continued. In its announcement, the economy ministry names Kim Tin Group Corporation as participating in the unfair pricing but the tariff is broadly applicable to all Vietnamese exporters.
The market share of Mexican producers of steel wire shrank in recent years while that of Vietnamese importers grew more than 10 percentage points to 18.6% by 2023, according to the economy ministry. The new tariff will remain in effect for at least five years and can be extended.
President Claudia Sheinbaum, who started her six-year term in October, has pledged a series of moves to bolster local manufacturing.
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