Soda ash injury margin: Türkiye’s trade ministry has ‘reservations’ over NTC methodology

ISLAMABAD: At the crucial time of visit of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to Turkey, Türkiye’s Ministry of Trade has expressed reservations over Pakistan’s National Tariff Commission (NTC) methodology used to determine the injury margin in its anti-dumping investigation into imports of soda ash from Türkiye and Kenya.

The NTC’s deviation from it’s past practice amounts to providing undue protection to an industry producing intermediary goods which are consumable by the downstream industry at the cost of disadvantage to the downstream industries producing highly value added finished products.

Turkish authorities are not only unhappy over the NTC’s existing procedure, but also asked their Pakistani counterpart to reconsider the method used for investigation of the said issue in question.

READ ALSO: Soda ash: Türkiye not happy with anti-dumping probe

There are apprehensions that the Türkiye’s Ministry of Trade may take up the issue with Pakistani delegation on top priority basis.

In an official letter dated July 2, 2026, addressed to the NTC, Türkiye’s Directorate General for Imports argued that the Commission had applied a 10 percent profit margin while calculating the non-injurious price of the domestic industry in its preliminary determination, instead of the 5 percent profit margin used in previous anti-dumping investigations.

The Turkish authorities maintained that the use of a 10 percent profit margin lacks consistency with the NTC’s established practice and results in an inflated injury margin. They urged the Commission to revise the calculation by applying a 5 percent profit margin in line with its previous determinations.

Pakistan initiated the anti-dumping investigation into imports of soda ash from Türkiye and Kenya on July 18, 2025, and issued its preliminary determination, including provisional anti-dumping duties, on January 15, 2026. The Turkish side requested the NTC to take its comments into account before reaching a final determination in the case.

Recently, Embassy of the Republic of Türkiye has urged Pakistan’s National Tariff Commission (NTC) to ensure a fair and objective evaluation in the anti-dumping investigation into imports of disodium carbonate (soda ash) from Türkiye and Kenya.

Türkiye urges NTC to ensure fair evaluation in soda ash anti-dumping investigation.

In a letter addressed to NTC Chairman, the Embassy’s Office of the Commercial Counsellor said the Turkish government had already submitted its official views, assessments and responses to the allegations made by Pakistani petitioners, along with replies provided by Turkish exporting companies to the NTC questionnaire.

Through another letter, International Silicate (Pvt.) Limited has formally requested the Chairman of the National Tariff Commission (NTC) to order an independent investigation.

In a letter dated July 2, 2026, the company further claimed that the Preliminary Determination contains biased calculations and warned that imposing anti-dumping duties could significantly increase raw material costs for downstream industries, potentially leading to factory closures, job losses, and wider economic consequences.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026