Cemex wants US$100m compensation from US

Cemex could recover US$100m if Washington lifts anti-dumping tariffs on Mexican cement in a bid to ease shortages in the United States, the company said on Wednesday.  Last month, a NAFTA panel ordered the U.S. International Trade Commission to revise a decision that ratified the anti-dumping tariffs on Mexican cement.  Francisco Garza, head of Cemex’s North America operations and international trade, said on Wednesday that Mexico and the United States will meet soon to seek an agreement on the matter. 

Cemex wants back the money it has paid as anti-dumping duties for exporting its cement to the United States since 1990.  "Part of the conversations we have had until now ... are that they return the deposits we have made to date, which amount to $100 million," Garza told reporters.  "It is key for the U.S. consumer that anti-dumping tariffs are lifted ... so final consumers can access cement," he said. 

Cemex’s US unit imports about 5Mt of Asian cement into the US market every year.  If tariffs were lifted, Cemex says its Mexican operation could easily meet US demand and substitute imports from China, South Korea and Turkey.