As the United States raises global steel tariffs to 50%, intensifying global protectionism surrounding the steel industry, the Korean government has decided to impose provisional anti-dumping duties of up to 33.57% on hot-rolled steel plates from China and Japan.

According to the Trade Commission of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on July 24, the commission conducted a preliminary ruling on the dumping investigation of hot-rolled carbon steel and other alloy steel plates from Japan and China. Hot-rolled steel plates are materials widely used in various industries such as construction, steel pipes, and automobiles. The Trade Commission had previously initiated an investigation in March following Hyundai Steel’s request for a dumping investigation against six Japanese steel companies including JFE Steel and Nippon Steel, and five Chinese steel companies including Baoshan Iron & Steel and Bengang Steel Plates. At the time, Hyundai Steel argued that Japanese and Chinese products were being imported in large quantities at low prices, causing price drops and market disruption. The Trade Commission has now ruled in favor of Hyundai Steel. The commission plans to finalize the anti-dumping duties after further investigation.

This decision by the Trade Commission is a measure in response to the domestic steel industry’s double whammy of high tariffs from the U.S. and oversupply from China. On June 26, the Trade Commission also made a final decision to impose anti-dumping duties of 21.62% on Chinese stainless steel thick plates for the next five years. While the commission typically sets provisional tariff rates high and then slightly reduces the final tariff rates after accurate market research, in this case, the government set the final tariff rate at the same level as the provisional rate.

In February, a decision was made to impose provisional anti-dumping duties of up to 38.02% on Chinese thick plates. This is the highest level of anti-dumping duties ever imposed on steel items, reflecting the serious impact of low-priced product offensives by Chinese companies on the domestic steel industry. In April, it was also resolved to impose anti-dumping duties of up to 18.81% on Vietnamese stainless cold-rolled products.

Not only Korea but also countries like Vietnam and Canada are strengthening the protection of their steel industries. The Vietnamese government recently decided to impose anti-dumping duties of 23.10% to 27.83% on Chinese hot-rolled steel plates for five years. Canada has significantly reduced the tariff rate quota for steel products produced in countries without free trade agreements (FTAs) from 100% to 50% based on the previous year’s import volume, and decided to apply a 50% tariff rate on import volumes exceeding this standard. This is to prevent the possibility of low-priced Chinese products, which cannot enter the U.S. due to high tariffs, from flooding into third countries. The Korean government plans to prepare measures for the advancement of the steel industry within this year.

Meanwhile, the Trade Commission also conducted a preliminary ruling on single-mode optical fibers from China on the same day and decided to impose provisional anti-dumping duties of 43.35% on three companies including Hengtong, Yangtze, and Jinxingtong.

Source: Business Korea