According to a notice issued by the Turkish Ministry of Trade, the ministry's Board of Evaluation of Safeguard Measures has determined import quotas for certain steel products and decided to collect a 25 percent import duty if the quotas are exceeded. The measures are scheduled to be in place for 200 days. The decisions of the board were submitted to the approval of the president of Turkey.
Products to be subject to the provisional safeguard measures are flat steel products, long steel products, pipes and hollow sections, stainless steel and steel products for railways.
On the other hand, per World Trade Organization rules, developing countries were exempted from the measures in question.
Commenting on the provisional import measures, Mehmet Zeren, general secretary of the Turkish Steel Pipe Manufacturers Association (CEBID), said that Turkish domestic flat steel prices are at higher levels compared to global prices amid the current customs duties on flat steel products in Turkey. He expects that access to flat steel products might become more difficult because of the provisional measures. According to Mr. Zeren, the fact that products imported under the scope of Turkey's inward processing regime are exempted from the latest provisional measures is a positive thing, while small-scale companies might be negatively affected by these quotas.
Meanwhile, market sources said that the stainless steel products quota is unlikely to create any trouble for stainless steel importers.
Products and quotas subject to the provisional duties can be seen in the below table:
Product group |
HTS Codes |
Quotas (mt) |
Duty |
Flat Products |
72.08 |
3,117,670
|
25% |
72.09 |
|||
72.10 |
|||
72.11 |
|||
72.12 |
|||
72.25 |
|||
72.26 |
|||
Long Products (Bars, wires, sections) |
72.13 |
558,534 |
|
72.14 |
|||
72.15 |
|||
72.16 |
|||
72.27 |
|||
72.28 |
|||
Pipe and Hollow Sections |
73.03 |
273,901 |
|
73.04 |
|||
73.05 |
|||
73.06 |
|||
Stainless Steel* |
72.19 |
139,934 |
|
72.20 |
|||
Steel Products for Railways |
73.02 |
27,044 |
*Excluding 7219.11, 7219.12, 7219.13, 7219.14, 7219.21, 7219.22, 7219.23, 7219.24, 7220.11 and 7220.12.