Before the meeting with the Turkish Ministry of Economy regarding the Section 232 measures in the US, Namik Ekinci, chairman of the Turkish Steel Exporters Association (CIB), talked to the Turkish daily Dünya, saying that inter-ministerial talks are in progress and that the CIB will lobby for an exemption from the duties. He went on to say that, if these attempts show no results, they will have to respond to the US measures. Mr. Ekinci recalled that Turkey imports 4 million mt of scrap from the US and so any measures against US scrap imports to Turkey would be pointless. “If we cannot export steel products, demand for scrap will decline. We had our own protection against imports; however, at the beginning of this year the import duty on rebar was scrapped. I am not pessimistic regarding the talks with the US authorities, we might get results,” Ekinci said.
Also, speaking to Dünya, Mehmet Zeren, general secretary of the Turkish Steel Pipe Manufacturers Association (CEBID), said that the most rational decision would be an exemption for Turkey, adding that, however, a quota on imports, as in case of South Korea, is a good enough alternative. “The argument from the US is that they impose antidumping duties on Chinese products and we import Chinese raw material, shipping the finished goods to the US, overriding the duty. However, we use the 80 percent of Chinese imports in products made for domestic consumption. We can make a commitment not to use Chinese material in goods to be exported to the US,” Zeren stated in conclusion.
The US imposed 25 percent duty for all steel imports, with exemptions for Canada, Mexico, Australia, Brazil, Argentina and EU countries, and an import quota for South Korea.