Source: AFP
Chile’s largest steel plant has resumed operations after the government imposed temporary tariffs on Chinese imports.
The Huachipato plant, which provides 2,700 direct jobs and about 20,000 indirect ones, announced a month ago that it was closing, unable to compete with Chinese steel sold for about 40 percent cheaper in the South American country.
The company had asked Chile’s CNDP commission against price distortion to recommend the government impose a 25 percent tariff on imported steel.
The commission in a recent ruling found “sufficient evidence to support the existence of dumping” — the sale of Chinese steel below cost.
Then on Saturday, Chile’s finance ministry imposed a temporary tariff ranging from 25% to 34% on Chinese steel imports.
The measure, which appeared to clash with a free trade agreement between Chile and China, was approved by the CNDP.
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/d85b002356956d24.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/d85b002356956d24.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
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“We hope that this temporary measure will be confirmed with definitive measures that will allow us to continue to compete on a level playing field,” the factory said in a statement.
Latin America imported a record 10 million tons of Chinese steel last year — a 44 percent increase over the previous year, according to data from the Latin American Steel Association (Alacero).
Two decades ago, the figure was just 85,000 tonnes.
About 1.4 million people work in the steel industry in the region.
The United States has also complained about cheap Chinese steel, and last week US President Joe Biden called for increased tariffs as he accused the Asian giant of “cheating”.
Huachipato specializes in key inputs for the mining industry, including steel bars and balls used in the milling of copper — of which Chile is the world’s largest producer.
Source: AFP