The Gulf Cooperation Council’s ministerial committee has decided not to impose steel safeguard duties, going against the GCC permanent committee’s recommendation issued in May to impose definitive safeguard duties for three years.

“The Ministerial Committee failed to adopt the Standing Committee’s recommendation to impose final preventive measures against the increase in the imports of some iron and steel products by the GCC countries based on the Uniform Anti-Dumping and Anti-Dumping Measures Law (System),” says a statement in the GCC Official Gazette.

The permanent committee had recommended the imposition of definitive safeguard duties for three years on various steel products, following the GCC-Bureau of Technical Secretariat for Anti Injurious Practices in International Trade (GCC-TSAIP) probe concluded in February. The first year was to see a duty of 16% imposed on the cif value of imports, followed by 15.2% in the second year and 14.44% in the third year.

In February GCC-TSAIP recommended definitive steel safeguard measures are imposed and excluded a number of products from the probe, including hot and cold rolled coil, as well as plate (see Kallanish passim).

In July 2020 GCC-TSAIP made a preliminary determination that an increase in imports has caused serious injury to the bloc’s steel industry. No preliminary duties were imposed.

The failure to impose safeguard duties has left the GCC market for coated sheet under HS codes 721070 and 721090 exposed to unchecked imports. This comes after three-year safeguard duties imposed on these products following an earlier investigation expired in May.