Amid reports that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) - which receives 95 percent of its rebar imports from Turkey - is planning to start an antidumping duty investigation or to increase customs duties on rebar imports, the Turkish Steel Exporters' Association (CIB) has announced that it has met with Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al Shehhi, undersecretary of the UAE economy ministry, to obtain detailed information on the issue and also to emphasize the importance of the commercial relations between the two countries.
According to the CIB’s statement, during the meeting CIB chairman Namik Ekinci stated that the UAE is an important trading partner for the Turkish steel industry and maintaining trade relations without imposing any protectionist measure will benefit both countries, while Mr. Al Shehhi stated that an antidumping duty investigation against Turkish steel products is not on their agenda.
While Mr. Al Shehhi said that his ministry does not plan to start an antidumping duty investigation, however, he indicated that there may be an increase in customs duties applied to all countries. The UAE is committed to protecting the free market economy and it may not even need to raise customs duties if prices rise in the current year, he added.