Anti-dumping duties against Bulgarian rebar in Canada will reduce steel exports from Ukraine by 60-80 ths tons

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) introduced final anti-dumping duty of 15.9% against rebar from Bulgaria (Promet Steel) in mid-December 2024.

This decision has indirect impact on export of steel from Ukraine, as rebar in Bulgaria is produced from Ukrainian square billet, stated in the report of GMK Center “Trade restrictions as the key challenge for steel industry in 2025”.

Introduction of anti-dumping duties against Bulgarian rebar in Canada conflicts with a previously adopted decision of Canadian Government on temporary exclusion of goods originating in Ukraine from customs duties, as it indirectly affects export of billet from Ukraine.

Annual export volume of rebar from Bulgaria to Canada amounted to 60-80 ths tons in 2023-2024.

Origin of billet could be used as a criteria to avoid anti-dumping duties against rebar in Canada, as similar mechanism works in the US. For example, steel products made in the EU using steel melted & poured in Ukraine, e.g. rebar produced from Ukrainian billets, excluded from tariff-rate quotas scheme for European steel in the US.

There are 28 trade restriction measures in force against steel products from Ukraine in 13 countries and economic blocs. Every one in four measures in action was introduced more than 20 years ago.

Nominal steelmaking capacities in Ukraine fell from 42 mln tons in 2013 to 16.2 mln tons in 2024, of which active is about 8.0 million tons, the rest is idled. Steel export from Ukraine plummeted from 24.7 mln tons in 2013 to 4.7 mln tons in 2024.

As GMK Center reported earlier, US President Donald Trump said he wants to impose large-scale tariffs on steel, aluminum and copper imported into the country, as well as on other goods, including computer chips, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.