Egypt’s Finance Ministry has imposed, on Monday, a temporary import tariff of 15% on iron billets and 25% on steel rebar, set for 180 days.
The ministry announced that the tariff aims to protect Egypt’s domestic iron and steel industry against dumping, and unfair competition.
Local steel manufacturers have been calling on the government to implement anti-dumping measures, in the wake of the global oversupply of billets, due to the tariffs imposed by United States President Donald Trump on iron and steel products.
In 2017, Egypt imposed tariffs on Chinese, Turkish, and Ukrainian steel rebars, which were later extended in December 2018 for five years.
According to the 2017 decision, the tariff was set at 17% for Chinese steel, 10% to 19% for Turkish steel, and 15% to 27% for Ukrainian steel.
According to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, Egypt’s iron and steel industrial production recorded EGP 32.35bn ($1.875bn) in the first quarter of 2018.
