CAIRO — Experts agree on the need to support national industry, especially since the Egyptian government has made it easier for foreign companies to import cheap steel to Egypt. The government's imposition of anti-dumping tariffs on importers of steel is costing Egyptians huge sums of money as the economy suffers.

The Egyptian government’s economic reform program and its November decision to float the Egyptian pound gave rise to a growing inflation rate that reached almost 33% this month — the highest in decades. Many Egyptians are questioning the usefulness of imposing anti-dumping duties on imported steel at the risk of suffering an unprecedented rise in steel prices.

On Aug. 15, the price of rebar in Egyptian factories ranged between 11,500 Egyptian pounds (about $647) and 12,000 pounds (about $675) per ton. The price has been rising gradually since June, when the Ministry of Trade and Industry imposed anti-dumping duties on rebar imported from Turkey, China and Ukraine for four months.

Anti-dumping duties are paid to the state for allowing goods to be imported when they are already manufactured locally and when lower-priced imports would harm the national industry.