Amid China-EU tariff war, Turkey imposes anti-dumping duties on steel imports

Turkey on Friday imposed heavy anti-dumping duties on steel imports from India, China, Russia, and Japan, with Beijing dealing the major blow.

The duties imposed will range between 6.10 per cent to 43.31 per cent of the cost, insurance and freight (CIF) prices, the decision said, in a move aimed at preventing “unjust competition” after appeals from domestic producers last year.

Duties imposed on imports from China range from around 15 per cent to 43 per cent, and tariffs imposed on imports from Russia, India and Japan go from 6 per cent to 9 per cent, according to the decision.

Anti-dumping probe reports

The move comes after Turkey launched an investigation into hot-rolled steel imports after local producers appealed.

Hot-rolled flat products, both alloyed and unalloyed, without any additional processing, were investigated for anti-dumping measures.

The preliminary results of the probe revealed that an alleged dumping of steel from China, Russia, India and Japan threatened to damage domestic production.

Amid escalating trade tensions between China and the European Union regarding tariffs on electric vehicles, brandy, and other products, Ankara has made its decision. This move follows China’s filing of a complaint with the World Trade Organization concerning import duties on Chinese electric vehicles entering Turkey.

Turkey’s steel production slump

Meanwhile, Turkey has been witnessing a slump in the production of steel.

Steel production reduced by 4 per cent in 2023 as compared to 2022 to 33.714 million tons.

The country experienced a 30.6 per cent year-on-year decline in steel exports, dropping to 10.5 million tons. Export revenues also fell by 40.7 per cent, reaching $8.3 billion. Meanwhile, Turkey’s steel imports in 2023 grew by 15.5 per cent year-on-year, totaling 17.1 million tons, while the cost of these imports decreased by 6.1 per cent year-on-year, amounting to $14.6 billion.

With inputs from Reuters