Turkey has increased its import duty for stainless steel cold rolled flat products from two percent to eight percent, effective immediately, for all countries except the European Union and South Korea with which Turkey has signed free trade agreements, according to an announcement by Turkey's Ministry of Economy published in the Official Gazette on October 30, 2013.
The hike in import duty is expected to first hit all imports of the mentioned products from Taiwan, China, Vietnam and India, from which four sources Turkey bought 102,480 mt of its total of 243,799 mt of stainless steel cold rolled flat product imports in the first eight months of the current year, according to to the data provided by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK).
Since the import duty for imports of the abovementioned products from South Korea is zero, South Korean steel giant POSCO's subsidiary in Turkey, Posco Assan TST, is expected to strengthen its position in the Turkish domestic market, as the company produces stainless steel cold rolled coils and sheets, using imported stainless steel hot rolled coil and sheets from South Korea.
Stainless steel cold rolled coils, for which the import duty has risen from two percent to eight percent, are classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheadings 7219.31.00.00.00, 7219.32.10.00.00, 7219.32.90.00.00, 7219.33.10.00.00, 7219.33.90.00.00, 7219.34.10.00.00, 7219.34.90.00.00, 7219.35.10.00.00, 7219.35.90.00.00, 7220.20.21.00.11, 7220.20.29.00.11, 7220.20.41.00.11, 7220.20.49.00.11, 7220.20.81.00.11 and 7220.20.89.00.11.