G/L/1359  
G/SG/N/12/TUR/9  
 
25 May 2020  
(20-3779) Page: 1/4 
Council for Trade in Goods  
Committee on Safeguards  Original: English  
 
IMMEDIATE NOTIFICATI ON UNDE R ARTICLE 12.5 OF TH E AGREEMENT  
ON SAFEGUARDS TO TH E COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN GOODS OF  
PROPOSED SUSP ENSION OF CONCESSION S AND OTHER  
OBLIGATIONS  REFERRED TO IN PARAGRAPH 2  
OF ARTICLE 8 OF THE AGREEMENT  
ON SAFEGUARDS  
TURKEY 
The following communication, dated 22 May 2020, is being circulated at the reque st of the delegation 
of Turkey . 
_______________  
 
 
Pursuant to Article 12.5 of the Agreement on Safeguards, and in accordance with the agreed format 
for notifi cations ( G/SG/1 , 1 July 1996; amended on 19 October 2009, G/SG/1/Rev.1 -
G/SG/N/6/Rev.1 -G/SG/89) the Government of Turkey provides the immediate notification to the 
Council for Trade in Goods of proposed suspension of concessions and other obligations referr ed to 
in paragraph 2 of Article 8.  
 
1. Which Member is proposing suspension of concessions and other obligations 
referred to in Article 8.2  
 
Turkey.  
 
2. Specify the measure, the product subject to the measure, the WTO document that 
notified the safeguard measure , and the Member imposing the measure in relation 
to which the Member is proposing suspension of concessions and other obligations 
referred to in Article 8.2 of the Agreement on Safeguards  
 
The measures at issue are the definitive safeguard measures adopted by the European Union ( EU) 
on certain steel products on 31 January 2019 through Regulation (EU) 2019/159. The measures 
imposed by the EU consist of 26 tariff -rate quotas imposed on 26 steel product categories with an 
out-of-quota duty of 2 5%. Those measures are effective since 2 February 2019 until 30 June 2021.  
 
The EU notified the imposition of those measures to the WTO in document G/SG/N/8/EU/1/Suppl.1, 
G/SG/N/10/EU/1/Suppl.1 and G/SG/N/11/EU/1/Suppl.2 dated 7 February 2019.  
 
The EU initiated a review of the safeguard measures and notified the initiation of the review 
investigation to the WTO with the document G/SG/N/10/EU/1/Suppl.2, dated 21 May 2019. Based 
on the findings of this review, the EU amended the safeguard measures and not ified those 
amendments to the WTO in documents G/SG/N/10/EU/1/Suppl.3, G/SG/N/11/EU/1/Suppl.3 dated 
15 August 2019 and G/SG/N/10/EU/1/Suppl.4, G/SG/N/11/EU/1/Suppl.4 dated 2 October 2019.  
 
Turkey and the EU notified to the WTO, with the document G/SG/203, dated 4 April 2019, the 
extension of the 90 -day period foreseen in Article 8.2 of the Agreement on Safeguards and 
Article  XIX: 3(a) of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, until 30 June 2021. To date, 
no agreement has been reached so far with r espect to adequate means of trade compensation for 
the adverse effects of the measures on Turkey 's trade.  
 
 G/L/1359 • G/SG/N/12/TUR/9  
 
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3. Describe the proposed suspension of concessions and other obligations referred to 
in Article 8.2, and the proposed date from which it will come in to effect.  
 
The proposed suspension of substantially equivalent concessions and other obligations under the 
GATT 1994 to the trade of the EU takes the form of an increase in duty on the selected products 
originating in the EU, as indicated in Annex I. The substantially equivalent concessions or other 
obligations under the GATT 1994 were calculated as indicated in Annex II.  
 
Turkey notes that the measures concerned have not been taken pursuant to the conditions provided 
for in Article 8.3 of the Agreement on  Safeguards. Without prejudice to the effective exercise of its 
right to suspend substantially equivalent concessions or other obligations referred to in Article 8.2, 
Turkey reserves its right to apply the proposed suspension of concessions after 30 days f ollowing 
the date of publication of this notification.  
 
Turkey reserves its right to modify, supplement, or replace the suspension of concessions or other 
obligations should the EU make adjustments to the safeguard measures which would render the 
measures more restrictive towards products originating in Turkey.  
  G/L/1359 • G/SG/N/12/TUR/9  
 
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  ANNEX I  
The products covered are determined, within the Annex, by HS codes.  
 
No HS Code  Description of Product  Additional  
Duty  
1 0901.21  Not decaffeinated  10% 
2 2204.10  Sparkling wine  25% 
3 2204.21  In containers holding 2 litres or less  25% 
4 2309.10  Dog or cat food, put up for retail sale  10% 
5 72.08  Flat-rolled products of iron or non -alloy steel, of a width of 600 
mm or more, hot -rolled, not clad, plated or coated  9% 
6 72.09  Flat-rolled products of iron or non -alloy steel, of a width of 600 
mm or more, cold -rolled (cold -reduced), not clad, plated or 
coated  10% 
7 72.10  Flat-rolled products of iron or non -alloy steel, of a width of 600 
mm or more, clad, plated or coated  14% 
8 72.11  Flat-rolled products of iron or non -alloy steel, of a width of less 
than 600 mm, not clad, plated or coated:  15% 
9 72.12  Flat-rolled products of iron or non -alloy steel, of a width of less 
than 600 mm, clad, plated or coated  15% 
10 72.14  Other bars and rods of iron or non -alloy steel, not further worked 
than forged, hot -rolled, hot -drawn or hot -extruded, but including 
those twisted after rolling  15% 
11 72.15  Other bars and rods of iron or non -alloy steel  14% 
12 72.16  Angles, shapes and sections of iron or non -alloy steel  17% 
 
  G/L/1359 • G/SG/N/12/TUR/9  
 
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  ANNEX II  
 
LEVEL OF SUBSTANTIAL LY EQUIVALENT CONCES SIONS OR OTHER OBLIG ATIONS  
The substantially equivalent concessions or other obligations under the GATT 1994 were calculated 
as follows.  
 
According to 2018 figures, the effect of the safeguard measure on Turkey 's exports of the products 
concerned to the EU is as shown below:  
 
2018  
Turkey 's Exports to the EU  
 (Excess of Quotas)  
(Million US Dollars)  Duty Calculated  
(Million US Dollars)  
 1.437   359 
 
It is calculated that 1.437 Million US Dollars of Turkish exports to the EU of the products concerned 
fall out of the scope of the tariff -rate quotas. Hence, duty collected from this portion of exports 
amounts to 359 Million US Dollars.  
 
Turkey prefers to  design the rebalancing measure to have proportionately less than the effect of the 
EU measures indicated in the table above, with a view to minimize the negative impacts on bilateral 
trade flows at this stage. Therefore, Turkey 's proposed suspension of co ncessions would affect 
1.640  Million US Dollars (based on 2018 import values) of imports into Turkey of products listed in 
Annex 1 originating in the EU, and this would result in 194.8 Million US Dollars of duty collected 
based on the additional duty rates  hereunder.  
 
No HS Code  Imports Originating 
in the EU  
(Million US Dollars)  Additional  
Duty  Duty Collected 
(Million US 
Dollars)  
1 0901.21  34 10% 3.4 
2 2204.10  3 25% 0.7 
3 2204.21  4 25% 1.0 
4 2309.10  43 10% 4.3 
5 72.08  688 9% 61.9 
6 72.09  151 10% 15.1 
7 72.10  371 14% 51.9 
8 72.11  33 15% 5.0 
9 72.12  29 15% 4.3 
10 72.14  17 15% 2.5 
11 72.15  29 14% 4.1 
12 72.16  238 17% 40.5 
Total  1.640   194.8  
 
 
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