ANNOUNCEMENT 25 May 2020

In May 2020, Turkey notified the World Trade Organization's Council for Trade in Goods of the decision to suspend concessions and other obligations referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 8 of the agreement on Safeguards towards the European Union. 

NUMBER OF INTERVENTIONS

1

  • 0 harmful
  • 1 neutral
  • 0 liberalising

SOURCE

WTO, Council for Trade in Goods - Committee on Safeguards - Immediate notification under Article 12.5 of the Agreement on Safeguards to the Council for Trade in G[...]reement on Safeguards - Turkey, Document No. G/L/1359 ; G/SG/N/12/TUR/9, issued on 25 May 2020: https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/FE_Search/FE_S_S009-DP.aspx?language=E&CatalogueIdList=263928,262888,262911,262912,260132,259669,254442,252850,252868,251968&CurrentCatalogueIdIndex=0&FullTextHash=&HasEnglishRecord=True&HasFrenchRecord=True&HasSpanishRecord=False
WTO, Council for Trade in Goods - Committee on Safeguards - Immediate notification under Article 12.5 of the Agreement on Safeguards to the Council for Trade in G[...]Safeguards - Turkey - Revision, Document No. G/L/1359/Rev.1 ; G/SG/N/12/TUR/9/Rev.1, issued on 24 July 2020: https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/FE_Search/FE_S_S009-DP.aspx?language=E&CatalogueIdList=265293,264445,264234,264235,263928,262912,259669,258087,258016,254442&CurrentCatalogueIdIndex=0&FullTextHash=&HasEnglishRecord=True&HasFrenchRecord=True&HasSpanishRecord=True

Inception date: 22 May 2020 | Removal date: open ended

Safeguard

On 22 May 2020, Turkey submitted a notification under article 12.5 of the WTO Safeguard Agreement on the decision to suspend concessions and other obligations stipulated in said agreement. The proposed suspension following the imposition of definitive safeguard duties by the European Union on 2 February 2019, see related state act.

Following the suspension of concessions and other obligations, Turkey also notified the WTO of the imposition of substantially equivalent concessions as imposed by the European Union in the form of additional duties on a number of goods originating from the European Union within 30 days. The rate of duty is proposed as follows:

  • Non-decaffeinated coffee (HS code 0901.21) with a 10% duty
  • Sparkling wine (HS code 2204.10) with a 25% duty
  • Wine in containers holding 2 litres or less (HS code 2204.21) with a 25% duty
  • Dog or cat food put up for retail sale (HS code 2309.10) with a 10% duty
  • Flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, of a width of 600 mm or more, hot-rolled, not clad, plated or coated (HS code  7208) with a 9% duty
  • Flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, of a width of 600 mm or more, cold-rolled (cold-reduced), not clad, plated or coated (HS code 7209) with a 10% duty
  • Flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, of a width of 600 mm or more, clad, plated or coated (HS code 7210) with a 14% duty
  • Flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, of a width of less than 600 mm, not clad, plated or coated (HS code 7211) with a 15% duty
  • Flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, of a width of less than 600 mm, clad, plated or coated (HS code 7212) with a 15% duty
  • Other bars and rods of iron or non-alloy steel, not further worked than forged, hot-rolled, hot-drawn or hot-extruded, but including those twisted after rolling (HS code 7214) with a 15% duty
  • Other bars and rods of iron or non-alloy steel (HS code 7215) with a 14% duty
  • Angles, shapes and sections of iron or non-alloy steel (HS code 7216) with a 17% duty

The duty may be withdrawn, modified, supplemented or replaced before its the actual imposition. The duty will be in place for a period equal to the duty imposed by the EU. In this context, Turkey noted that: "The substantially equivalent concessions or other obligations under the GATT 1994 were calculated as follows. ... It is calculated that 1.437 Million US Dollars of Turkish exports to the EU of the products concerned fall out of the scope of the tariff-rate quotas. Hence, duty collected from this portion of exports amounts to 359 Million US Dollars."

Notably, a number of other countries also notified the WTO of suspending concessions and other obligations in reaction to the changes made by the United States on 24 January 2020.

On 23 July 2020, the Turkish authorities notified the WTO of amending both the EU's Imports from Turkey (Excess of Quotas) USD 1.810 million and the Duty Calculation to USD 452 million. However, the proposed duties listed above were not revised. 

AFFECTED SECTORS

 
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AFFECTED PRODUCTS

 
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