Morocco retaliates with anti-dumping tax on Egypt’s PVC exports

• Customs duty of 90% on PVC
• Measures to tackle illegal ‘dumping’
• Tense commercial relations

Morocco has imposed a customs duty of more than 90 percent on PVC imports from Egypt in retaliatory anti-dumping measures.

Morocco’s ministry of industry and trade said it has acted against Egyptian exporters after its investigation found that they are illegally dumping its market, or exporting at below normal cost.

In an announcement carried by the local media this week, the ministry said significant dumping by those exporters have damaged local producers, including lost market share, declining profitability and downward pressure on domestic prices.

PVC – polyvinyl chloride – is a durable thermoplastic polymer used in applications such as pipes, window profiles, wire insulation, flooring and medical devices. 

The ministry said market probe results found that Egyptian PVC exporters were selling their products in the local market at prices lower than in Egypt’s market.

“The investigation found a causal link between the surge in imports and serious damage to local producers. As a result, Morocco has decided to implement final anti-dumping duties on Egyptian PVC imports,” the ministry said.

The measure applies a tariff of almost 75 percent to products from the Egyptian Petrochemicals Company, which cooperated with the investigation. Other non-cooperating Egyptian exporters will face a higher duty of more than 92 percent.

“The ministry emphasises that the duties aim to protect the national PVC industry from unfair foreign competition while maintaining a fair trade environment,” the announcement said.

Despite their geographic proximity and the existence of a free trade pact, commercial relations between Egypt and Morocco have been tense over the past period because of those practices and Morocco’s large deficit in its trade with Egypt. 

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Between 2020 and 2024, Morocco’s trade deficit with Egypt surged by around 196 percent, with Egypt’s exports to that country jumping by 113 percent to around $1 billion in 2024 from $475 million in 2020, official Egyptian trade figures show.

On the other hand, Egypt’s imports from Morocco plunged by 69 percent to $46 million from $149.2 million during the same period.

During recent talks in Cairo, Egyptian minister of investment and foreign trade Hassan El-Khatib called for efforts to achieve “a more balanced trade relationship” between the two countries.

Omar Hejira, Moroccan secretary of state for foreign trade, said he discussed with El-Khatib “practical mechanisms to support Moroccan exports to Egypt to narrow the trade imbalance that has long characterised bilateral exchanges”.