Trade and Industry Secretary has formally issued Department Administrative Order No. 21-04 series of 2021 dismissing the case for the imposition of safeguard measure on imported cars and light commercial vehicles (LCVs).
DTI Secretary Ramon M. Lopez signed the DAO on August 6, 2021 following the Formal Investigation Report of the Tariff Commission that there is no import surge in the importation of these motors vehicles for the period 2014-2020 as alleged by petitioner Philippine Metalworkers Alliance (PMA).

“The petition for general safeguard measures on the importation of motor vehicles (passenger cars and light commercial vehicles) falling under AHTN 2017 Headings 87.03 and 87.04 is hereby dismissed,” the order stated.
The DTI order was published Wednesday, August 11, in two newspapers. Notices were also sent to all interested parties, including the concerned WTO member economies.
The DAO also ordered that pursuant to the Section 12 of Safeguard Measures Act, all cash bonds that have been imposed and previously collected on shipments of passenger cars and LCVs which entered or were withdrawn from warehouses in the Philippines for consumption from February 1, 2021, the date of the effectivity of the Customs Memorandum Order No. 6-2021, shall be immediately returned to the concerned importers.

The order will take effect upon the issuance of the relevant CMO by the Bureau of Customs.
The imposition of the provisional safeguard measure on imported passenger cars and LCVs stemmed from a petition from the PMA of import surges, serious threat to the domestic motor vehicle manufacturing, and killing Filipino jobs. This prompted the DTI to conduct a preliminary investigation and the imposition of provisional safeguard duty of P70,000 per unit of imported passenger cars and P110,000 per unit of imported LCVs for a period of 6 months.
However, in its Formal Investigation Report, the Tariff Commission has determined that there was no increase in imports of completely built up passenger cars and CBU LCVs (whether absolute or relative to domestic production) during the period of investigation. As such, the TC said that “serious injury or threat thereof, causation, and unforeseen developments has been rendered moot and academic.”
As a result, the DTI reversed its decision and dismissed the case filed by PMA.