Turkish steel industry concerned exports to US will decrease

Thursday, 10 February 2022 15:40:07 (GMT+3)   |   Istanbul
       

According to a media report in the Turkish daily newspaper Dünya, the agreement between the US and Japan to replace Section 232 duties with a quota system has created concerns within the Turkish steel industry that steel exports to the US may decrease by 80 percent.

Uğur Dalbeler, vice president of the Turkish Steel Exporters’ Association, stated that, with the measure imposed by the US in 2018, Turkey’s steel exports to the US decreased to approximately 300,000 mt from about three million mt recorded until 2018. In 2021, Turkey’s steel exports to the US totaled 1.2 million mt, with a value of $1.23 billion. Mr. Dalbeler said that, with this agreement, the Turkish steel industry has lost its competitiveness in the US market against Japan.

The US is also negotiating with the UK for an agreement and, if the negotiations are concluded, Turkey will be the only country on which duty is applied.

Saying that this agreement will adversely affect the exports of the Turkish steel industry, Veysel Yayan, secretary general of the Turkish Iron and Steel Producers’ Association, stated that this decision may also cause protectionist measures to be eased, and that the duty imposed by the US on Turkey’s steel exports may be turned into a quota system in the coming days.

The system, which will be effective as of April 1, will allow duty-free Japanese steel imports in the US at roughly 1.25 million mt, as SteelOrbis previously reported.