Turkey sued the European Union over steel import tax

Turkey has filed a lawsuit against EU steel import tariffs with the world trade organization, the trade ministry said Friday.

In February 2019, the European Union said that the sharp increase of Turkish steel imports seriously threatened the steel producers in member countries. The European Union has set import quotas for 26 kinds of steel products and imposed a 25% tariff on future steel products for three years.

Turkey's trade ministry said that as one of the main steel exporting countries to the EU, Turkey's export has been adversely affected by its measures and has started proceedings in the WTO.

According to the latest data of the World Iron and Steel Association, Turkey became the seventh largest crude steel producer in the world in January 2020. In 2019, Turkey's crude steel production is 33.7 million tons.