Colombia joins US in anti dumping probe for Turkish steel exports

Turkish Steel Exporters' Union chairman Mr Namık Ekinci said that Colombia also plans to file an anti-dumping suit against Turkish steel exporters following a US investigation and that the union will be visiting Colombia in the next few weeks to further discuss the issue.

Mr Ekinci emphasized that the union is confident that the ongoing US anti-dumping investigation on Turkish steel exports into the country will work out in Turkey's favor because exporters know they have not been involved in dumping.

Speaking to Today's Zaman on the sidelines of a conference on shale gas in İstanbul, Ekinci said steel producers in both the European Union and Egypt had also filed anti-dumping suits against Turkish exporters in the past at different times, and the subsequent court decisions which acquitted Turkish exporters proved that they are in the right in their conduct of business.

He said that “We are certain the US case will also end up as in previous cases because our exporters are sure of themselves and even the US producers know we are not involved in such acts. But they usually file such suits to gain market share over the course of the court's decision-making process, during which Turkish exporters are not able to sell any products to the country. And we are not able to recover our losses for this period even if we are proven to be legitimate.”

Underlining that Turkish exporters were acquitted in an Egypt anti-dumping case last year, Ekinci said consumers had recently tried to complain again to the Ministry of Industry and Foreign Trade in Egypt, “but we heard that an official from the ministry turned down the complaints and set Turkish steel imports as an example of price competition and high quality standards. The quality of Turkish steel and its non-involvement in dumping has been proven but hearing praises about the quality of our products pleased us.”

The US Commerce Department launched on July 24, 2013 one of its biggest trade investigations in years into charges that manufacturers in Turkey, India and seven other countries are selling steel pipes used by oil and natural gas producers at unfairly low prices in the United States.

Source: steelguru