Five per cent CET on imported cement will remain until court determines petition from cement importer Rock Hard Distributors

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has ordered the government of Trinidad and Tobago to reverse its decision to increase the import duties for cement to 50 per cent.

The order came from the CCJ on Friday, as the regional appellate court ruled on an interim measure application by Trinidad’s local cement importer, Rock Hard Distributors and its St Lucia-based parent company.

The interim measure means that the five per cent common external tariff (CET) on imported cement remains in place until the court determines Rock Hard’s challenge of the increase on import duties.

In delivering the court’s interim order, Justice Jacob Wit mandated that the Government of Trinidad and Tobago “shall not enforce the statutorily rate of duty applicable on other hydraulic cement, as far as it exceeds the CET of five per cent”.

The CCJ also ordered Rock Hard to indemnify the Government as well as local cement manufacturer, Trinidad Cement Ltd, against any loss or damage sustained by them if it can be proven at the substantive trial that the loss was caused by the interim measure.

The matter was heard by CCJ judges Wit, Winston Anderson and Maureen Rajnauth-Lee, who delivered their interim order having heard legal arguments from both parties earlier this month. A case management hearing has been set for March 3.

Petitions filed by Rock Hard

Rock Hard had applied to the CCJ for special leave to start proceedings against the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to have reviewed the decision of CARICOM’s Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) to grant Trinidad and Tobago’s request to suspend the CET of five per cent on imports of other hydraulic cement and impose the 50 per cent rate, starting January 1, 2021.

The company has applied for the hearing of the originating application to be expedited and asked for an interim injunction to restrain the Rowley administration from imposing the new rate.

Rock Hard filed a similar challenge in the High Court of Trinidad and Tobago, which is expected to be heard later this month.

Apart from the imposition of the 50 per cent duty on cement imports for one year, the Ministry of Trade, on December 7, 2020, announced it was introducing an import licensing regime, a registration system as well as a three-year quota restricting cement imports with 75,000 tonnes in the first year