UAE increases rebar, wire rod import duties to 10 pc

The UAE increased import duties on rebar and wire rod from 5 percent to 10 percent, effective January 1st, 2019.

The anti-dumping move aims to protect the domestic steel industry and falls in line with a GCC-wide initiative to raise the duties across the Gulf region, according to Ali Saeed Matar Al Neyadi, Customs Commissioner and Chairman of the Federal Customs Authority (FCA).

"The import duty hike comes in implementation of a decision taken by the GCC Financial and Economic Cooperation Committee to approve an increase in rebar and wire rod import duties from 5 percent to 10 percent starting January 1st, and therefore the decision is being applied across all UAE's ports" he said.

"The hike will remain in effect for one year, after which it will be evaluated by the Ministry of Economy which will raise its assessment to the Cabinet for review and final say," he explained.

"The Customs Sector in the country is playing a central role in underpinning the competitiveness of domestic products and protecting them against detrimental trade practices, primarily dumping, in order to ensure fair competition for all domestic and foreign products on the local market," he noted.

According to the FCA statistics, rebar and wire rod trade stood at AED1.1 bn (444.4 thousand tonnes) during the first nine months of last year, with imports accounting for AED656 million and exports AED392 million while re-exports valued AED26 million.

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