The U.S. Department of Commerce announced a preliminary determination that Egyptian producers and exporters of rebar receive government subsidies subject to countervailing duties, and decided to impose countervailing duties of 29.51% on Egyptian imports of the product into the U.S. market.
According to a statement by the Department’s Enforcement and Compliance Administration, the investigation covers the period from January 1 to December 31, 2024, with the decision taking effect as of January 13, 2026.
The Department said it will align the final determination in the countervailing duty investigation with the parallel anti-dumping investigation, with final decisions in both cases to be issued together by May 26, 2026, unless postponed.
Egypt’s iron and steel exports rose by 42% in September, reaching $190 million, compared with $134 million in September 2024, according to data from the Export Council for Building Materials.
However, Egyptian steel exports declined in the first nine months of 2025 to $1.4 billion, down from $1.65 billion in the same period of 2024, according to the Export Council for Building Materials.
Turkey topped the list of importing countries from Egypt with $209 million, followed by Brazil at about $148 million, the United States at $125 million, Lebanon at around $85 million, Saudi Arabia at $72 million, and Italy at approximately $57 million.
In this context, Egyptian Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Hassan El-Khatib said in an interview with Al Arabiya Business on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum 2026 in Davos that Egypt has been less affected by U.S. tariffs, as the 10% rate imposed on it is the lowest on the tariff schedule.
According to El-Khatib, this gives Egypt a relative advantage and provides an opportunity to localize industries and attract direct investments that can benefit from these lower tariffs—making it more of an opportunity than a threat.