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The trade tensions continued to be a hot topic when Turkey recently imposed an anti-dumping duty on HRC products from the EU and Korea. This decision is seen as retaliation from Turkey based on the fact that their country's HRC source was previously taxed by Europe.The overview of imposing anti-dumping HRCSince January 2021, the Turkish has started an anti-dumping investigation on hot rolled coils imported from the EU and Korea. The investigation was initiated by requirements from the Turkish Steel Association on behalf of domestic steel producers.Hot rolled coil products in the investigation list have codes including 7208.10.00, 7208.25.00, 7208.26.00, 7208.27.00, 7208.36.00, 7208.37.00, 7208.38.00, 7208.39 .00, 7208.40.00, 7208.52.908, 7208.52.908, 7208.52.10, 7208.53.10, 7208.53.90, 7208.54.00, 7211.13.00, 7211.14.00, 7211.19.00, 7212.60.00, 7225.19.10, 7225.30.10, 7225.30.30, 7225.90. .90, 7226.91.20, 7226.91.91 and 7226.91.99In March 2022, the government announced the results of the investigation after a long time for reviewing. Accordingly, HRC importers from the EU and Korea were found to be selling HRC products at a lower price than the floor price in domestic. The Turkish Ministry of Commerce has calculated that the dumping margin of Korean importers ranges from 14 to 18.6%, especially for European HRC steel importers who have been accused of dumping with a margin of high in the range of 23-49%.On July 7, 2022, in the face of arguments about unfair competition, the Turkish Ministry of Commerce decided to impose an anti-dumping duty on importers from the EU and Korea. The tax rate will be calculated in the range of 7-18.8% for HRC products from Europe and 7-8.95% for HRC products originating from Korea.What is the cause of escalating tension? "What we have been doing is a proper answer for the EU after everything they have done to Turkey in the past four years," the Turkish Steel Association vice president declared.In addition, he also said that the imposition of the tax would be an essential step to prevent unfair trade between domestic and foreign manufacturers.Turkey is one of the largest export markets for the EU, and they often look to this country as a solution to eliminating the inventory situation when the demand for steel in the European region is significantly reduced. EU producers have been accused of regularly selling large shipments of steel to Turkish users at lower prices than the prices in Europe, specifically a large factory in France sold steel in Turkey for about €750/ton, while the domestic price is much more expensive with a specific price above €900/tons.Although the imposition of an anti-dumping tax has the participation of the EU and South Korea, this is actually seen as a response from the Turkish manufacturers to the EU since the case of anti-dumping duties on HRC products from Turkey in January 2021.Vietnam's Perspective Before Recent Anti-Dumping LawsuitsAs of 2023, Turkey will always be a potential steel export market for Vietnamese suppliers. The trading relationships become significant in the context of steel demand in Turkey increasing sharply to serve the reconstruction of construction structures after the earthquake in January.Although Turkey has previously initiated an anti-dumping investigation on stainless steel pipes from Vietnam, the Turkish Ministry of Industry and Trade has not yet made a final decision on this matter. It can be seen that commercial cooperation between the two countries has always maintained a stable status based on bilateral interests.Particularly for HRC products, Vietnam is considered one of the most potent steel manufacturers with annual output of HRC steel reaching more than 8.6 million tons. Thanks to strong production capacity and technological advances, Vietnam has been able to supply and export HRC worldwide. In just 6 months of 2021, Vietnam's HRC export volume has reached 700,000 tons. 

On October 7, 2020, the EU officially imposed a definitive anti-dumping duty on hot-rolled stainless steel coils and sheets (SSHR) imported from Indonesia, China, and Taiwan. This move is to protect the interests of manufacturers in the European Union such as Belgium, Italy, and Finland against dumping by foreign enterprises. This decision contributed to the protection of nearly 200,000 domestic steel industry jobs and increased the EU's total number of trade remedies measures to 56.1. EU imposes temporary anti-dumping duty on steel imported from Indonesia, China, Taiwan1.1. Steel groups are imposed anti-dumping dutyOn June 28, 2019, the European Steel Association (Eurofer) accused manufacturers of hot rolled stainless steel coils and sheets (SSHR) from Indonesia, China, and Taiwan of dumping, affecting domestic manufacturers and market steel prices. The European Commission accepted the complaint and initiated an anti-dumping investigation on the products subject classified under the HS codes of HS 7219.11, 7219.12, 7219.13, 7219.14, 7219.22, 7219.23, 7219.24, 7220.11 and 7220.12.The general director of EUROFER said that the steel industry of Indonesia, China, and Taiwan have too much capacity, so they export cheap SSHR to European Union nations. Their dumping has caused a lot of damage to the European steel industry, so remedial measures are necessary.1.2. The temporary anti-dumping duty rate for Indonesia, China, and TaiwanOn January 25, 2020, the EC requested import registration for goods from Indonesia, China, and Taiwan for a period of 9 months. Regulations imposing import registration requirements officially took effect on January 24, 2020.On April 8, 2020, the European Commission issued Regulation (EU) 2020/508, imposing temporary anti-dumping duties on goods imported from Indonesia, China, and Taiwan, specifically:The duty rates for imports from China range from 14.5 to 18.9% of the net free-at Union-frontier price before duty depending on the company.The duty rate for imports from Chinese Taipei ranges from 6 to 7.5% of the net free-at Union-frontier price before duty depending on the company.The duty rate for imports from Indonesia is 17% of the net free-at Union-frontier price before duty depending on the company. 2. EU imposed definitive anti-dumping duty on Indonesia, China, TaiwanOn October 7, 2020, the European Commission imposed definitive anti-dumping duty on SSHR from Indonesia, China, and Taiwan. Specifically:The duty rate for imports from Indonesia is 17.3% of the net free-at Union-frontier price before duty depending on the company.The duty rate for imports from Taiwan is 4.1% or 7.5% of the net free-at Union-frontier price before duty depending on the company.The duty rate on imports from China is 9.2 - 19% of the net free-at Union-frontier price before duty depending on the company.One of China and Indonesia's most important industrial exports is stainless steel sheet and cold-rolled coil. Although there is no accurate report on the damage from the new anti-dumping duty from the EU,  it will have a direct impact on the two countries' export and production activities. Faced with the risk of oversupply and great economic damage, the countries involved have made recommendations and objections to the EU's decision to impose anti-dumping duties.Accordingly, the European Commission issued the Commission's Implementation Regulation (EU) 2020/1713 on November 17, 2020, amending the definitive anti-dumping duty rate on SSHR imported from China, Taiwan, and Indonesia in the case of a specific safeguard duty is also applied to the same good. If the official safeguard duty rate is 25% out-of-quota, importers are exempt from anti-dumping duties. 

Trade remedies take place as an apparent trend in the integration process of the global economy. Therefore, it is not surprising that anti-dumping cases are escalating gradually and most recently, the EU imposed anti-dumping duties on Turkish steel products.Overall the evolution of the EU imposed anti-dumping duty on Turkish steelOn August 12, 2022, the European Commission announced the decision to impose anti-dumping duties on galvanized steel products from Turkey. According to information from the commission, an investigation into trade remedies evidence has been started from January 2020 until December 2020 after the request from the European Steel Association (EUROFER). The products under investigation include hot-dip galvanized steel and galvalume steel in both coil and flat forms.After many preliminary investigations, the European Union decided to impose anti-dumping duties ranging from 8% to 11% on galvanized steel products imported from Turkey. The tax rate will be applied depending on the different manufacturing plants for 5 years.Analyze some causes of the lawsuit from the EUExplaining the reason for the incident, the European said that the import price of galvanized steel from Turkey has decreased significantly and it has a significant difference when compared to the price of the steel manufacturers in the EU from 2018. By the end of 2020, the price of Turkish steel will have decreased by half compared to the price of steel from Europe. This evidence is enough for the European Union to conclude that Turkish steel products have been dumped at 2.4 - 39.8%.For a long time, the EU market has always been an important export market for Turkey. By 2021, Turkey's total export of galvanized steel has reached 1.6 million tons, equivalent to a value of 2 billion USD. Along with that, Europe's steel consumption volume reached a stable level from 2017 to 2019 but then decreased by 10% in 2020, the cause partly due to pressure from steel imported from Turkey.The EU's decision to apply an anti-dumping policy is seen as a negative effect on Turkish exporters, but it helps European factories reduce price pressure among a series of international exporters. As a result, EU producers can implement a strategy to stabilize prices as well as reduce rivalry from competitors.Some reactions from Turkey importers face to anti-dumping dutyBefore the results of the anti-dumping duties, the Turkish Steel Exporters Association had fierce controversies. Accordingly, the Turkey side declared that the price of galvanized steel was directly affected by the previous price fluctuation of HRC. However, the EU side rejected this claim.In addition, the European Union also rejected some opinions that the cause of their steel output decline was mainly due to weak demand. Some experts believe that European manufacturers have invested in inappropriate strategies during and after the Covid pandemic has caused operating capacity to exceed consumption, leading to substantial losses which adversely affect profits.“Our export situation will be aggravated by these decisions, there is a high rate of possibility that we will lose in the competitive position compared to India, Korea, and Vietnam,” said the Export Association. Turkish Steel (CIB) commented. Vietnam's perspective on Turkey's anti-dumping dutyWhen faced with the anti-dumping tax case from Turkey, Vietnam expressed severe concern about the anti-dumping issue as a steel exporter. Vietnam and Turkey both have similarities in the export market while the EU market has always been one of the four largest markets for Vietnam's galvanized steel industry.Currently, Vietnam is considered one of the countries with rapid growth in export turnover when many of Vietnam's export products, including galvanized steel, certainly create competitive pressure on domestic markets. This development causes many countries to pay attention including the European Union. Therefore, the galvanized steel industry is predicted to be no exception to this inevitable trend with a high probability of imposed trade remedies tax policies in the future.Although Vietnam's galvanized steel has not yet been subject to trade remedy lawsuits when exporting to the European market, it will be limited in quantity instead. Specifically, on 1st July 2022, Vietnam's galvanized steel exports will be managed under a quota of 1.8 million tons. If the export volume in the year exceeds the quota, the import tax will have to pay an additional 25%.In the worries about anticipating trade remedies from Europe in the future, the European market has always been a potential export land for Vietnamese steel manufacturers. Because it has only 3 of a total of 23 products subject to quotas including cold rolled steel, galvanized steel, and stainless steel. The remaining 20 types of steel products temporarily do not apply to quotas and are not subject to additional tax rates. 

Russian galvanized steel has created tremendous competitive pressure in the European market. This forces the EU to apply trade remedies to ensure the development of the European Union bloc.Russia is hit with anti-dumping duties by the EURussia is the world's 3rd largest steel exporter, with annual steel exports reaching 28 million tons. In the Europe market, Russia is currently the second-largest supplier of steel to Europe after Turkey. The excessive export of galvanized steel to Europe is said to be the act of destroying competitors and expanding the market, which is an act of unfair competition and should be prevented. There have been lawsuits alleging that galvanized steel products are dumped from Russia on the European market, affecting the region's steel market economy.The European Steel Industry Association (Eurofer) initiated the investigation after receiving a report from Commodity Insights. According to the lawsuit, Europe's average galvanized steel production remained stable from 2017 to 2019, but prices remained higher than those imported from Russia. However, in the period from 2019 to 2020, EU steel production decreased by 10%, mainly due to the impact of cheap Russian steel flooding the European market. This makes the EU steel market volatile, and domestic steel enterprises suffer a decline in output and revenue.From January to December 2020, the EC opened an investigation into the imports of galvanized steel products from Russia into EU countries to determine whether these products are being dumped and whether such imports cause harm or damage to EU domestic steel producers. The products investigated fall under HS codes 7210410020, 7210410030, 7210490020, 7210490030, 7210610020, 7210610030, 7210690020, 7210690030, 7210908092, 7212300020, 7212300030, 7212506120, 7212506130, 7212506920, 7212506930, 7212509014, 7212509092, 7225920020, 7225920030, 7225990022, 7225990023, 7225990041, 7225990092, 7225990093, 7226993010, 7226993030, 7226997013, 7226997093 và 7226997094.The EC determined that Russian galvanized steel products had a dumping margin of between 2.4% and 39.8%. The fact that galvanized steel products are imported from Russia and dumped in the EU market makes domestic manufacturers unable to sell their products, putting pressure on the national economy.Accordingly, on August 12, 2022, the EU imposed an anti-dumping order on galvanized steel products from Russia after concluding this investigation. The EU imposed anti-dumping orders on galvanized steel products originating from Russia after the conclusion of this investigation. Russian steel mills will be subject to specific duties, as follows: Anti-dumping duties on steel from Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Plant amounted to 36.6%, Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant to 10.3%, Severstal to 31.3%, and other Russian enterprises to 37.4%.Vietnam - An alternative to RussiaMost EU countries import steel from Russia, EU anti-dumping duties on Russian galvanized steel disrupted the EU steel market, affecting supply in other industries. The EU and Vietnam share the same EVFTA trade agreement, which is an opportunity for EU countries when importing steel from Vietnam. The joint trade agreement helps EU countries avoid being subject to import duties when importing galvanized steel originating from Vietnam. This helps countries in the EU import quality steel at a more reasonable cost than importing steel from other countries.As one of the significant steel exporters in the world today, the prolonged conflict between Russia and Ukraine directly affects global raw material resources, including the steel industry. The shortage of steel supply from Russia will cause steel prices in Europe to rise, especially as many steelmakers in Europe have had to reduce capacity because of soaring energy costs. This is also a condition for Vietnamese steel enterprises such as Hoa Sen Group, Hoa Phat Group, Nam Kim Steel... boost the export of galvanized steel to this potential market, replacing the gap left by Russia. 

On March 1, 2023, the UK’s Trade Remedies Authority announced the extension of anti-dumping measures on High Fatigue Performance Steel Concrete Reinforcement Bars (HFP) imported from China. This makes domestic businesses concerned about the disruption of the supply of good-priced steel.1. The UK: Applying anti-dumping duty on rebar imported from ChinaHFP rebar, also known when massed as reinforcing steel or reinforcement steel, is a major material in the construction industry with a high bearing capacity to reinforce steel structures. The use of HFP Rebar in construction has brought a value of more than £108 billion to the UK economy.During the period from April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021, the UK imported 3,600 tons of rebar from China. In the long run, the government was worried about dumping that could cause the domestic steel industry to suffer significantly because of cheap supply.Therefore, the European Commission imposed anti-dumping duties on HFP bar steel under the HS code 72 14 20 00 10, 72 28 30 20 10, 72 28 30 41 10, 72 28 30 49 10, 72 28 30 61 10, 72 28 30 69 10, 72 28 30 70 10 and 72 28 30 89 10 imported from China. Those trade remedy measures were in effect from July 2016 to the end of July 29, 2021, without needing to be reviewed.2. The UK: Proposal to extend trade remedies with rebar imported from ChinaThe UK's Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) proposed to continue to extend the anti-dumping duty at 18.4-22.5% for HFP rebar imported from China. Faced with the tense war situation of Russia-Ukraine, the British government is also concerned about negative impacts on the steel industry and causing a shortage of rebar. Therefore, continuing to extend trade remedies with this product might affect the general economic interests of the country.However, after reviewing the feedback from stakeholders and new economic forecasts, TRA found that steel imports from Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus could be substituted from other countries such as Portugal, Spain, and Turkey. Therefore, the extension of anti-dumping duty did not disrupt the domestic steel supply. The relevant parties had requested until the end of October 14, 2022, before the Ministry of International Trade made a final decision.3. The UK: Continue to extend anti-dumping measures with rebar imported from ChinaOn March 1, 2023, the United Kingdom officially extended anti-dumping measures on construction rebar (HFP) imported from China. This decision was made after the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) conducted a review of the petitions to cancel the trade remedy measures applied since 2016.According to Minister for Business and Trade - Nigel Huddleston, protecting domestic steel producers from unfair competition is a top priority for the government. Thus, the anti-dumping duty on Chinese rebar will be in effect until the end of July 2026.4. The UK: Vietnam's important steel export marketAccording to WTO statistics, by the end of June 2022, the UK has investigated a total of 04 trade remedies and applied 1 measure (transitional safeguard mechanism with steel products).According to the EU – UK Withdrawal Agreement, from January 1, 2021, the UK is no longer a member of the EU, and safeguard measures on steel products are carried out independently between the EU and the UK. After this event, both the UK and the EU conducted a review and updated the trade protectionism being applied.For Vietnam, the UK is currently only applying safeguard measures for steel products. In March 2022, The Trade Remedies Authority initiated an investigation and review of safeguard measures with steel products. In June 2022, they issued a final report, according to which Vietnam applied a separate tariff rate quota on a quarterly basis and a residual tariff quota for some steel products from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2024.Thanks to the UKVFTA Free Trade Agreements, Vietnamese businesses have an edge over many other countries. According to data from Vietnam Customs, two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and the UK will reach nearly 6.84 billion USD in 2022, up 3.4% compared to 2021. Exports will reach 6.07 billion USD, up 5.2%, exports of iron and steel of all kinds to the UK reached 155.7 million USD, and products from iron and steel reached 63.3 million USD.Hopefully, the information about the UK's extension of anti-dumping duty on Chinese steel will help you update more about the world's steel market situation. Don't forget to follow and read the latest news about the steel industry in Vietnam and the world at MRS Steel! 

The Department of Foreign Trade of Thailand (DFT) has just issued the final conclusion in the final review of the anti-dumping duties order on steel products originating from Vietnam. Accordingly, DFT has stopped the order to impose anti-dumping duties on GL and extended the duty imposition on PPGI and PPGL.The Trade Remedies Department said it had received information that DFT has initiated an investigation and review at the end of the anti-dumping duties period with two product lines, GL and PPGI/PPGL of Vietnam. After these two product lines were investigated and anti-dumping orders were imposed five years ago.In the case of GL, the list of Vietnamese manufacturers and exporters named includes: Hoa Sen Group Joint Stock Company, Nam Kim Steel Joint Stock Company, Member of Hoa Phat Group Joint Stock Company, Dong A Steel Joint Stock Company, Dai Thien Loc Joint Stock Company, Vnsteel Thang Long Coated Sheets Joint Stock Company, Maruichi Sun Steel Joint Stock Company, NS BlueScope Vietnam Co., Ltd., and Southern Steel One Member Co., Ltd.In the case of PPGI and PPGL, the list of Vietnamese manufacturers and exporters subject to anti-dumping investigations includes Hoa Sen Group Joint Stock Company, Nam Kim Steel Joint Stock Company, Hoa Phat Steel Sheet One Member Limited Liability Company, Dong A Steel Joint Stock Company, Dai Thien Loc Joint Stock Company, Thang Long Vnsteel Coated Steel Joint Stock Company, Maruichi Sun Steel Joint Stock Company, NS Company Limited BlueScope Vietnam, Southern Steel One Member Limited Liability Company, and Fujiton Color Coated Steel Joint Stock Company.Specifically, the Trade Remedies Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) said that this case, announced by DFT, will initiate an investigation and review at the end of the period on March 31, 2022. The purpose is to consider whether to continue or not to continue to impose anti-dumping orders on two product lines: GL and PPGI/PPGL of Vietnam. DFT sent the questionnaire and requested that relevant Vietnamese manufacturers and exporters submit their responses before 16:30 on May 2, 2022 (Bangkok time).In order to ensure its interests, the Trade Remedies Department recommends that relevant organizations coordinate and provide information at the request of the DFT. At the same time, keep in touch with the Trade Remedies Department for timely support.It is known that in the past, on September 18, 2015, DFT also initiated an anti-dumping investigation of Vietnam's GL and PPGI/PPGL. On March 25, 2017, DFT issued a final decision to apply anti-dumping duties from 4.3% to 60.26% for GL and from 6.2% to 40.49% for PPGI and PPGL imported from Vietnam. The duty rate will be effective for 5 years from the date of issuance.After the investigation process, on June 7, 2023, the Trade Remedies Department received the final conclusion in this case. Specifically, GL, after the investigation process, DFT decided to terminate the order to impose anti-dumping duties on this product (including 39 HS codes listed under the HS code list of Thai Customs). For PPGI and PPGL, DFT decided to extend the anti-dumping duties from 4.3% to 60.26% (including 39 HS codes listed under the HS code list of Thai Customs). This duty rate will continue to be applied for the next 5 years to prevent the dumping of the above steel products in the domestic market of Thailand, causing serious injury or damage to the domestic industry of this country.