In mid-November last year, Cartagena de Indias hosted steel industry leaders gathered at the Latin American Steel Association. Their message was unanimous: China is pursuing a strategy to become the world’s factory, taking control of production chains and triggering a dangerous process of deindustrialization. Four months later, the Colombian government took measures that affect several sectors.
The figures presented at the convention center were striking and should concern all countries: in just eleven hours, China produces what Colombia manufactures in a year; and in just 20 days, China produces what all of Latin America produces in a year. “That is the scale of inequality and the conditions under which we are competing today,” said Ezequiel Tavernelli, executive director of Alacero.
Additional data underscored the trend: over the past 15 years, exports of finished and semi-finished steel from China to the region grew by 233%, rising from 4 million tons in 2010 to 14.1 million in 2024. This influx of subsidized, artificially low-priced products has displaced local production, weakened industrial value chains, and put 1.4 million direct and indirect jobs at risk.
Tariff on Chinese steel could impact housing construction
Steel imports to Colombia do not come from China alone; Russia has also increased its exports amid its war with Ukraine. “Trade defense measures are outdated instruments that, in Colombia’s case, are governed by regulations from the 1990s and do not reflect the current global reality or the scale of the consequences,” said Marcela Mejía Valencia, manager of Siderúrgica de Occidente (Sidoc) and a leader within the Colombian Chamber of Steel Producers.
Four months later, the Spanish newspaper El País reported that the government of Gustavo Petro imposed a 35% tariff—the maximum allowed by the World Trade Organization — on imports of steel and metalworking products from countries with which Colombia has no trade agreement, namely China (the largest source of imports), Russia, Turkey, and India.
According to Alacero data cited by the publication, China’s exports to Latin America rose from 80,500 tons in 2000 to nearly 10 million tons in 2024, valued at $8.5 billion. While the Colombian government’s measure could be seen as an attempt to curb this influx, it may also have unintended consequences, including higher housing prices.
The newspaper cites the Colombian Chamber of Construction, which has warned that the tariffs will make housing more expensive. Iron and steel account for about 16.3% of direct construction costs, the association noted, estimating that these costs could rise by around 3.9%, pushing final housing prices up by approximately 2.2%.
There is more. Over the past 33 months of Petro’s administration, the housing sector has seen a decline in new housing starts and has lost more than 136,000 jobs. In addition, as El País reports, the sector was already facing cumulative cost increases of between 16% and 20% even before the tariff was imposed.
According to the same source, Camacol is evaluating legal action and has described the tariff measure as “inconsistent with housing policy and lacking sufficient technical justification.” The Ministry of Commerce, however, argues that the measure will not significantly affect housing, stating that “the market maintains multiple sources of supply under competitive conditions.”
Housing developers and domestic steel producers appear caught between two pressures: on one side, the overwhelming influx of Chinese steel, and on the other, government measures that may further complicate their situation.