In a retaliatory move, Turkey will launch anti-dumping investigations into US companies in the wake of new US import tariffs on steel and aluminum, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said on Thursday, according to the Hürriyet Daily News.
“However the US looks at our products, we will look at their products in the same way. We will launch key procedures within a few days,” Zeybekci said at a meeting in the Aegean province of Denizli.
He said large US companies received major support from the government.
“We are working on the process of beginning anti-dumping investigations into these companies,” Zeybekci added.
US President Donald Trump imposed import tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum in March.
In April Zeybekci sent a letter to US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross seeking an exemption from the new tariffs, a Turkish official said at the time.
Turkey is the world’s eighth-largest steel producer and the sixth-largest exporter to the United States.
Ankara is also set to take measures against the United States by June 21 over its decision to impose the tariffs. In an application to the World Trade Organization (WTO) on May 22, Turkey announced the items that would be included on the country’s countermeasure list, valued at $266.5 million.
The countermeasures include additional duties on 22 US imports including coal, paper, walnuts/almonds, tobacco, unprocessed rice, whiskey, automobiles, cosmetics, machinery and equipment and petrochemical products.