Yonhap reported that South Korea's trade commission said Thursday it has set preliminary anti-dumping duties on stainless steel bars from Taiwan and Italy, claiming the cheap imports have seriously damaged domestic industry. The Korea Trade Commission under the trade ministry said it will recommend the finance ministry impose 9.68-18.56 percent tariffs on the stainless steel bars imported from the two nations. The commission set 9.68-18.56 percent duties for Taiwanese products and 11.02-13.08 percent tariffs on Italian goods.

Stainless steel bar products are used to make auto parts, machine tools, airplanes, medical equipment and chemical plants.

The domestic market was estimated at KWR 370 billion (USD 330 million) as of 2017, with products from Taiwan and Italy accounting for 16.5 percent of the total.