The deputy minister of industry, mine and trade says the minister has ordered to stop the allocation of foreign exchange at official rate for the import of steel products in a bid to confront Chinese dumping policy, Eghtesadnews reported on Friday.
“According to the recent decision, the steel products can only be imported using market exchange rate”, said Mehdi Karbasian, adding that the strategy is expected to help maintain balance in the domestic steel market.
However, Karbasian, who heads the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO), said the country could not impose too many restrictions on imports as curbing imports is an obstacle in the way of joining the World Trade Organization (WTO).
“The consumers of steel products can exercise their choice to buy foreign products but this should not weaken the national manufacturing sector and cause recession in manufacturing units” said the IMIDRO head.
Karbasian added that during a recent conference held by Metal Bulletin in Dubai, the IMIDRO learned that many countries had levied tariffs to confront China’s dumping policy in steel markets.
According to the official, the decision to impose tariffs on foreign steel products is being finalized in the ministry of industry, mine, and trade aimed at protecting both the steelmakers and the consumers.
For the past few months, steel producers in Iran have been desperately trying to convince the administration to impose higher tariffs on imported steel products in particular those from China and India. Iranian steel manufacturers have frequently proposed import tariffs of at least 25% for different types of girders, 35% for bundles of rebar, and up to 15% for billets and ingots
Many countries see Chinese steel as a serious threat to their domestic steel industries and have taken practical measures to confront such dumping policy. So far, many countries such as Egypt have imposed punitive tariffs on Chinese crude steel and steel products and there are also calls by some Arab countries in the Persian Gulf region to impose protective tariffs.
The United States, too, used the import tariff as leverage against the Chinese steel export and recently put a 40% tariff on the products. Turkey also imposed a 30% tariff on Chinese steel and Vietnam did the same with a tariff of 37%, according to Reza Shahrestani, a member of Iranian Steel Producers Association (ISPA).
