US lobby group urges higher tariffs on flour from Turkey

The Philippine government has a strong case to back the local flour millers’ proposal to hike the tariff slapped on imported Turkish flour to 20 percent, as the current Turkish government policies “encourage” dumping, according to the US Wheat Associates.

“When it comes to the flour export trade, the policies of the government of Turkey are fully responsible for the dumping of Turkish flour in the Republic of the Philippines,” said Joseph Sowers, assistant regional director for South Asia of the US Wheat Associates.

In a statement, Sowers explained that the Turkish government employs a complex, inward processing scheme that creates disruptive incentives to its milling industry to export flour regardless of price.

“Public price information from the Polati grain exchange showed that flour prices in Turkey are significantly more expensive than their export prices. In fact, export prices for Turkish flour are even less than the market price its millers must pay to buy wheat to make its flour, in part because the Turkish government sets artificially high support prices for its wheat farmers while currently imposing a 130 percent duty on imported wheat,” Sowers explained.

“These facts offer strong justification for the Philippine government to protect the Philippines’ flour milling industry from such unfair competition. The proposed 20 percent anti-dumping duty being considered is clearly fair when another fact is considered: any country that wants to sell flour to Turkey currently must pay a 130 percent duty to the Turkish government,” he further said.