{"id":92830,"date":"2025-12-31T19:44:31","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T19:44:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/trade-minister-rejects-lifting-cement-tariffs-to-protect-industry"},"modified":"2025-12-31T20:38:59","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T20:38:59","slug":"trade-minister-rejects-lifting-cement-tariffs-to-protect-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/trade-minister-rejects-lifting-cement-tariffs-to-protect-industry","title":{"rendered":"Trade Minister Rejects Lifting Cement Tariffs to Protect Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. <\/strong><\/span><b>The Minister of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration, and Employment, Mod K. Ceesay, said on Tuesday that the government would not remove tariffs on imported cement despite persistent shortages, arguing that the policy is essential to protecting nascent domestic cement production.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t envisage any immediate removal of permanent tariffs on cement,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of scrapping the tariff, the minister said the government has opted for a temporary reduction in excise duty as a stopgap measure. The excise levy on cement has been cut from 180 dalasis to 30 dalasis, a rate that will remain in effect for now, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat we have is a temporary reduction of the excise duty on cement from 180 to 30 Dalasi, and it will remain so,\u201d Mr. Ceesay said.<\/p>\n<p>He described the decision as part of a broader protection regime aimed at supporting emerging local cement factories, which the government views as critical to long-term self-sufficiency and job creation. \u201cWe are committed to the protection measures adopted to support our upcoming cement factories,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is the policy direction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Ceesay added that the current arrangement would stay in place unless the government issues new guidance, signaling little appetite for a near-term policy shift even as supply constraints continue to affect the construction sector. \u201cIt will remain so until there is guidance or a directive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Gambia<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. The Minister of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration, and Employment, Mod K. Ceesay, said on Tuesday that the government would not remove tariffs on imported cement despite persistent shortages, arguing that the policy is essential to protecting nascent domestic cement production. \u201cI don\u2019t envisage any immediate removal of permanent tariffs on cement,\u201d he [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":92829,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,7],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-92830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","category-head-lines","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Trade Minister Rejects Lifting Cement Tariffs to Protect Industry - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Minister of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration, and Employment, Mod K. 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