Turkey has increased the import tax on some pipe and flat steel products in two stages to protect domestic steel production and employment, Kallanish notes.

In the first stage, which starts on 20 May and ends on 30 September, import taxes will be increased on certain steel products. As of 1 October, these taxes will be dropped by 5 percentage points. All products affected initially had zero duty.

Imports from third countries other than the EU and free trade agreement countries, and Malaysia and Singapore, which are in the transition period to a free trade agreement, will be subject to duty. The FTA countries include the EU and EFTA countries, Israel, North Macedonia, Bosnia, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, Egypt, Georgia, Albania, Chile, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Mauritius, Moldova, Faeroe Islands and South Korea.

In addition, imports realised in the scope of the Inward Processing Regime will be exempted from the additional duty.

Import duty on hot rolled coil under HS codes 720890801012 and 720890802012 will be 14% until 30 September and 9% after 1 October.

For cold rolled coil under HS code 720990802919 and alloyed coil under HS code 722599000090 the import duty will be 10% in the first stage and 5% in the second stage.

Import duty on alloyed steel wire under HS codes 722920000012, 722990500012 and 722990900012 will be 11% until 30 September and 6% thereafter.

Import duty on steel pipes and profiles under HS codes 7304 and 7306 will be 10%, followed by 5%.

These additional import duties on pipes and flat steel products, however, are not expected to have a significant impact on Turkish steel imports. This is because their share in overall import volumes is relatively low.