Tension over steel rises between EU and Turkey

EU and TENSION over steel rises between Turkey The tensions between the EU and Turkey continue 15 months after the EU implemented a one-sided quota on Turkey as part of protective measures for 26 steel products. Turkey made its second appeal to the World Trade •rganization (WT•) on May 25 and announced it will impose an additional 9-17 percent import tariffs on EU countries if the union refuses to review the quota application. The EU’s measures caused a 38.2 decline in Turkey’s steel export to the EU between January and April 2020, with imports increasing by 8.9 percent.

Speaking to Daily Dunya, Veysel Yayan, Secretary-General of the Steel Producers Association, said they have applied for an additional tax declaration to the WT• to balance the negative impacts of the EU’s quota on the Turkish steel sector. Also, Eurofer applied for a compensatory transaction tax to the EU, said Yayan. “We thought there was nothing left to do,” he added.

“Incentives for other sectors do not include the steel sector” The latest EU actions do not make sense, Yayan said. The EU claims the Turkish government provides incentives to the steel sector but but he claimed this is not the case . “They are taking this action based on the guidance of the world’s biggest steel production company,” Yayan argued. Turkey’s current indicators show that this situation can no longer continue, according to Yayan. “I can’t understand these measures at a time of pandemic and weak foreign exchange balances for a very small amount of marginal profit.”

Exports to the EU decrease, imports increaseSince the start of the EU’s quota system for Turkey, exports have decreased while imports have significantly increased. Steel exports to the EU decreased by 38.2 percent on a quantity basis, falling by $852 million to $1.689 billion in value between January and April 2020. During the same period, imports decreased by 11.9 percent to $1.326 billion in value, but it increased by 8.9 percent on a quantity basis.