High tariff protection for steel industry affects users

With the prices of mild steel (MS) products, namely rods, remaining high in the domestic market, the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (BTTC) has said high tariff protection on imports of billet is affecting local users.

"The quantity of imported MS products is very low in the domestic market because of excessive protective tariffs. Besides, high protection reduces efficiency of producers and leads to an increase in production cost, which ultimately harms users," the BTTC said.

The BTTC also said importers have to pay 44 per cent of customs duty to import billet apart from paying Tk 500 as advance income tax. In addition, importers have to pay a total import duty of 89.32 per cent to bring in finished products.

The BTTC included these observations in a report recently submitted to the commerce ministry. A panel of the commission prepared the report in line with a decision of the commerce ministry to examine the reasons for volatility in the prices of essential commodities, including MS products.