Turkish Steel Exporters Welcome U.S. Court Ruling Against High Import Tariffs

The Turkish steel exporters union has welcomed the recent U.S. court ruling against Trump’s administration’s decision to hike tariffs on steel imports from Turkey. Incidentally, the substantial hike in duty on steel imports from Turkey by up to 50% had caused significant losses for Turkish steel exporters. As per rough statistics, the U.S. share of total steel exports out of Turkey has dropped significantly from 15% in 2017 to as low as 3% in 2019.

Ismail Gulle, head of the Turkish Exporters' Assembly (TIM) welcomed the ruling by the US Court of International Trade last week that the high tariffs were unlawful. The Trump administration’s decision to double the tariffs lacked any basis, he said. Gulle termed the court decision as belated, yet right. The Turkish steel industry exports to the U.S. has registered decline by 70%, falling from $900 million in 2018 to $271 million in 2019.

Meantime, Adnan Aslan, head of the Turkish Steel Exporters Association noted that it intends to file with higher courts, to claim compensation for losses suffered by Turkish steel exporters.

Earlier in March 2018, the Trump administration had slapped an additional 25% tariffs on steel imports. In August that year, the tariffs were doubled to 50%. Later in May last year, the U.S. had cut the tariffs to 25%.