US DOC finds no subsidy in Turkish rebar imports

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.