Steel pipe manufacturers continue to appeal to WTO against US AD duties

Turkey is yet another country that has decided to appeal to the World Trade Organization against US intentions to impose anti-dumping duties on its steel pipe imports. More recently, South Korea has filed an appeal to the WTO.

The President of the Turkish Steel Exporters Association pins hopes that the Turkish Ministry of Economy will bring the matter to the WTO. A spokesman for the US Trade Representative said the potential WTO litigation was not being viewed as a political issue.

A big win for US pipe manufacturers last year was the US International Trade Commission's ruling imposing duties on imports of pipes from South Korea, India, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine and Vietnam. The duties also apply against imports of Russian manufacturers. Seamless pipes can be purchased from us http://www.metaeks.ru /truba / and no fees.

But foreign producers turned to the WTO in a small victory this month when a US court called for a recalculation of import duties on pipes from South Korea, which filed a WTO appeal against last December. Imports from this Asian country generated $ 818 million, more than the combined volume from other countries.

In 2014, Turkey's OCTG imports to the United States accounted for just 1.7 percent of the total supply, and the cost of trade was hardly significant. However, US trade officials were able to discover that Turkey's largest industrial conglomerate, Erdemir, is a state-owned enterprise that supplies steel coils to Turkish pipe manufacturers at discounted prices.

At the same time, the Turks claim that Erdemir was privatized 10 years ago. In addition, they note that the Canadian authorities in such a case ruled that Erdemir is a private company, and therefore does not receive government subsidies.

Struggling for domestic market share, US steel pipe producers are trying to squeeze out foreign producers and are sensitive to the fact that duties may be reduced or removed.