MITI ends probe into imported ceramic tiles

MITI said there had been no increase in imports of the ceramic floor and wall tiles under investigation in absolute terms.

KUALA LUMPUR: The government had on Monday terminated the safeguard investigation on imports of ceramic floor and wall tiles that it had initiated based on a petition filed by the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers - Malaysian Ceramic Industry Group.

The petitioner had claimed that the increase in imports of ceramic floor and wall tile products in absolute terms and relative to domestic production from 2017 to 2019 had caused serious injury to the relevant domestic industry in Malaysia.

In a statement, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) said the government after completing the investigation pursuant to subsection 20(2) of the Safeguards Act 2006 and regulation 10 of the Safeguards Regulation 2007,"made a negative preliminary determination”.

It made the decision after finding that there had been no increase in imports of the product under investigation (PUI) in absolute term.

"The government was also not able to ascertain the import volume of the PUI in relative term to the domestic production of the like products during the period of investigation, ” it said.

Moreover, MITI said, the government was unable to ascertain the existence of causal link between the increase in imports of the PUI and the serious injury to the domestic industry as alleged. - Bernama