The European Commission (EC) has extended definitive countervailing duties of 20.5% on stainless steel cold-rolled flat products (SSCR) originating from Indonesia to cover imports consigned from Taiwan, Turkey, and Vietnam, in order to prevent circumvention of the existing duties.
Additionally, the EC has extended the existing anti-dumping duty rate of 19.3% to imports of SSCR from Taiwan and Vietnam. While six Taiwanese exporting producers, including Yieh United Steel Corporation and Walsin Lihwa, were granted exemptions from the extension of measures, the requests from Turkey's Trinox and Vietnam's Lam Khang and Yongjin Metal Technology were rejected. However, Posco Assan TST Celik Sanayi A.Ş. from Turkey and Posco VST from Vietnam were successful in obtaining exemptions.
The investigation by the EC found that certain companies in Taiwan, Turkey, and Vietnam were importing stainless steel slabs or hot-rolled coils from Indonesia, processing them into SSCR, and then exporting the finished products to the European Union. This practice was deemed as circumventing the existing countervailing and anti-dumping measures imposed on Indonesian SSCR imports in 2022.Eurofer, the European steel association, welcomed the extension of duties, stating that it is crucial to ensure the effectiveness of the original measures and prevent artificially cheap and subsidized semi-products from entering the European market, endangering the European stainless steel industry.
The EC will also implement strict monitoring on imports from Taiwan, Turkey, and Vietnam to determine if they are made from steel melted and poured in Indonesia.
