Ukraine to impose 16.08% duty on imports of steel products from Belarus

Ukraine will impose in a week a special duty of 16.08% on imports of steel products from Belarus in response to discriminatory and unfriendly actions by Belarus against Ukrainian steel producers.

According to Ukrinform, such a report was published in the government's Uriadovyi Kurier newspaper following a meeting of the interagency commission on international trade.

"The size of the special duty on imports of goods into Ukraine is 16.08% of the customs value. The special duty is applied from the moment the commission's decision comes into force and until it is established that the Republic of Belarus has ceased its discriminatory and unfriendly actions against Ukraine," the report reads.

According to the report, the interagency commission on international trade considered the materials submitted by the Ministry for Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine to establish the facts of discriminatory and unfriendly actions by Belarus regarding the legal rights and interests of Ukraine's steel rod producers and the application of adequate measures in response.

Based on the results of the review of these materials, it was established that the current regulations of Belarus provide for the application of export bans and/or restrictions on the supply of ferrous metal scrap, including to Ukraine.

The commission found that such actions by Belarus contradict the provisions of the Ukrainian-Belarusian free trade agreement of December 17, 1992 and the free trade agreement of October 18, 2011 (the CIS) and are deemed to be discriminatory and unfriendly.

The commission's decision comes into force seven days after its publication in the government's Uriadovyi Kurier newspaper.

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