The US Department of Commerce has finalized the anti-dumping margins for POSCO and Hyundai Steel (004020) at 0% in an annual anti-dumping administrative review of the two companies. This means no additional anti-dumping duties will be imposed beyond normal tariffs.

According to the Federal Register published on the 13th, the US Commerce Department made this decision in an annual anti-dumping review covering Korean cold-rolled steel exported to the United States between September 1, 2023, and August 31, 2024. Cold-rolled steel is made by rolling hot-rolled steel at room temperature to reduce its thickness and smooth its surface, and is widely used in automotive steel sheets, home appliance casings, and construction materials.

An annual review is a procedure that recalculates previously assigned duty rates on a performance basis by comparing actual export prices and normal prices once a year for items subject to an anti-dumping duty order. The Commerce Department said that after releasing its preliminary determination in March, it finalized those findings as the final determination because no separate objections were raised by interested parties.

When this review was launched in October 2024, nearly 40 companies were subject to the review, including Samsung Electronics, Samsung C&T, SK Networks, and Dongkuk Steel. These companies were included on the list not as steel producers but as distributors and exporters involved in the export and distribution process of Korean cold-rolled steel. However, the Commerce Department checked customs records from US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and confirmed that 35 of them had no actual exports to the United States, so they were excluded from the review.

POSCO and Hyundai Steel were directly designated by the Commerce Department to undergo individual detailed reviews and were assigned anti-dumping margins of 0%. The three companies included in the review but not subject to individual review (Amerisource Korea, Hanawell, and KG Steel) are subject to the same 2.28% margin as before.

The cash deposit rate, which must be paid in advance on future steel product exports, also differs by company. Because POSCO and Hyundai Steel have margins of 0%, a cash deposit rate of 0% applies to them, but the three companies including KG Steel must continue to deposit 2.28%. For steel producers and exporters not included in the review, the existing uniform deposit rate of 20.33% is maintained.

Source: Sedaily