The
US Department of Commerce (
US DOC) has announced its preliminary decisions regarding the countervailing duty investigation against
rebar imports from
Turkey and Mexico, finding no subsidy in Turkish
rebar imports.
Accordingly, the preliminary dumping margins for the two Turkish steel mills in question, Habaş and İçdaş, are set as de minimis (less than two percent), allowing Turkish
rebar imports to enter the
US market without any countervailing measures.
Meanwhile, the
US DOC also stated that "critical circumstances" do not exist for Turkish
rebar imports. In December 2013, the
US rebar industry had filed a "critical circumstances" allegation in the antidumping and countervailing duty investigations of
rebar from
Turkey.
The
US is also conducting an antidumping duty investigation against Turkish and Mexican
rebar imports, with the preliminary decision expected on April 18.
"We were surprised to face the countervailing duty investigation for
rebar imports since we repeatedly stated that the Turkish steel industry is wholly privatized and cannot benefit from subsidies pursuant to the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) treaty. We regret that the
US DOC, the Turkish producers and the Turkish government spent time and effort on this investigation because the
US producers resorted to these investigations to increase domestic prices although they knew that the Turkish steel producers are not entitled to any subsidies. On the other hand, we would like to extend our gratitude to the
US authorities for their fair decision and wish both countries to engage in free trading activities without being impacted by trade barriers other than World Trade Organization rules," the Turkish Steel Exporters Association (CIB) chairman Namık Ekinci said.