The organization also asked the coffee-producing country to return the amounts collected due to the measure taken by the Ministry of Commerce in October 2024.

The General Secretariat of the Andean Community, made up of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, denied Colombia's request to impose a safeguard on steel imports, specifically on corrugated iron or steel bars for concrete reinforcement, a measure the country took on October 3.

In addition to denying the request submitted by Colombia, the Andean Community suspended the corrective measures applied and asked the country to return the amounts that had been collected during the provisional application of the measures.

In October, the Ministry of Commerce established an annual import quota of 29,529 tons that can enter the country freely, but for purchases above this limit, a tariff of 14.5% was established for two years.

The decision was made following an investigation carried out by a technical team from the Foreign Trade Directorate of the Ministry of Commerce, which was requested by the steel industry.

The investigation showed that imports from this block, mainly from Peru, caused damage to the Colombian industry because imports increased and products entered the country at a lower price.

However, the Andean Community said that the basic conditions necessary to invoke a safeguard mechanism, such as the existence of a massive and disproportionate increase in imports, were not met.

"It has been verified that there has not been a sudden increase in imports, nor have there been any changes in the conditions under which imports of corrugated iron or steel bars for concrete reinforcement originating in the Andean Community are carried out. Likewise, it has not been possible to verify the existence of any disturbance in the national production branch of corrugated iron or steel bars for concrete reinforcement in Colombia," he said.

The Andean Community's analysis indicated that Colombia did not take into account some aspects when estimating the domestic market for corrugated iron or steel bars for concrete reinforcement, for example, that part of the national production was destined for the foreign market between 2021 and 2023.

During the process, there was a meeting with Camacol. At that meeting, it became clear that the reduction in national production was due to factors other than the increase in Andean imports, such as the contraction of the construction sector, an increase in costs, among others.

In 2023, imports of corrugated iron or steel bars from the Andean Community reached 33,654 tons, 99.4% of which came from Peru.