Turkey to Implement Provisional Tariffs on Certain Fabric and Apparel Imports
The Office of Textiles and Apparel reports that the Turkish Council of Ministers has approved the July 21, 2011 implementation of provisional customs tariffs on imports of certain woven fabrics and certain apparel and apparel accessories, as part of an investigation into whether safeguard duties are needed. The rates levied may be adjusted if the safeguard is found necessary, or refunded if safeguard action is determined to not be needed.
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Decision Provides List of Products, Details on How Tariffs Will be Applied
The decision of the Council of Ministers (available here), which was published in the March 24 Gazette, provides the list of products and details on how the additional provisional tariff rates will be applied. As shown in the chart provided in the decision, tariff increases vary by country grouping.
U.S. Imports into Turkey Would be Subject to Additional Tariffs of 20-30%
Imports originating in the U.S. would be subject to additional tariffs of 20% on designated woven fabrics and 30% on designated apparel and apparel accessories (see the D.U. column, i.e., Other Countries). Per unit value minimum and maximum tariff thresholds are also listed. It should be noted that the tariff increases approved by the Council of Ministers are 10 percentage points lower than those that had been proposed by the Undersecretariat of Foreign Trade (UTF) in January.
Increase Effective July 21, May be Refunded If Not Need for Safeguard
The provisional tariff increases are effective July 21, 2011 (120 days after the publishing date in the Official Gazette).
At implementation, OTEXA expects importers in Turkey to be obliged to pay the provisional customs tariffs. The UTF will conduct its investigation and determine the market situation with reference to the local production and consumption of the subject products. If at the end of the investigation it is determined by the Council of Ministers that there is no need for safeguard measures, the provisional customs tariffs collected will be returned in full.
If it is determined that safeguard measures are needed and the safeguard measure is less than the provisional amount (collected after implementation, but before the safeguard investigation is completed), the difference will be returned. If the safeguard measure is determined to be more than the provisional amount collected, the difference cannot be requested from importers retrospectively, only prospectively.
OTEXA Says Safeguard Measure Should Not Exceed 4 Years, Unless Extended
Furthermore, it is OTEXA’s understanding that if implemented, the safeguard measure should not exceed 4 years, including the period during which any provisional measures were taken. Initial safeguard measures can be extended if at the end of the initial period it is determined that conditions threatening the market still exist. An extension would require another safeguard investigation, but any follow-on safeguard measures would have to be less restrictive than the initial measures. The total implementation period, including one or more extensions, cannot exceed 10 years.
(In January, the Turkish Government initiated investigations on these products under the scope of its laws on Safeguard Measures of Imports.)