Turkey adding more duties to over 400 products, steel included

Turkey has imposed new additional customs duties on more than 400 products of up to 20%, including some steel products, like sections, non-alloy/stainless wire and pipe & tube fittings.

Additional customs duties set for steel products range 5-17% and will be readjusted on October 1, S&P Global Platts observed from a presidential decree dated June 28.

The new duties are aimed at reducing the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Turkish economy and to protect domestic industry from import pressure.

Turkey also imposed some additional customs duties on more than 800 products on May 20, including some steel products like hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil and pipe, as Platts has reported.

As EU countries and countries with which Turkey has free trade agreements are exempted from these additional duties, the effect of these duties is expected to be limited.

Turkey is also expected to impose retaliatory duties against EU steel, based on the reciprocity principle, in response to the EU’s move for additional measures against EU imports of Turkish steel.

Turkey informed the World Trade Organization in this regard on May 25. But, despite Turkish mills’ expectations, no decree about it has been published so far by the government.

— Cenk Can