Victory for Çolakoğlu Metalurji: EU Court Annuls Indonesian Steel "Circumvention" Duties
In a major win for the Turkish steel industry, the General Court of the European Union has overturned a decision to hit Çolakoğlu Metalurji with heavy anti-dumping taxes. The dispute began when European regulators accused the company of dodging taxes meant for Indonesian steel by performing simple “assembly” or “completion” work in Türkiye. The Commission argued that turning Indonesian steel slabs into sheets was just a minor finishing touch designed to hide the metal’s true origin.
However, the Court ruled that the Commission fundamentally misunderstood its own laws. Judges clarified that an “assembly” legally requires putting multiple parts together, which is impossible when processing a single slab of steel. By trying to stretch the definition of “completion” to cover any manufacturing process involving a single input, the Commission committed a legal error. This ruling sets a firm boundary for EU regulators, confirming they cannot arbitrarily rewrite trade definitions to penalize manufacturers who are performing genuine industrial work rather than simple kit-assembly.