Appeal to WTO
POSCO, South Korea’s largest exporter of hot-rolled steel sheets, is considering filing an appeal to the U.S. Court of International Trade against the US government’s decision to impose an up to 61 percent tariff on Korean hot-rolled steel sheets on August 5 (local time).
This is because if the US International Trade Commission (USITC) finalizes the US government’s decision, the export of hot-rolled steel sheets made by South Korean steelmakers, including POSCO and Hyundai Steel, to the US will inevitably suffer. In particular, POSCO, whose products are levied a 61 percent tariff, worries that its export of hot-rolled steel sheets to the U.S. has become virtually impossible.
“As we think the U.S. anti-dumping measures unfair, we plan to take legal action after reviewing them,” said a POSCO official on August 6. POSCO accounts for 75 to 80 percent of Korea’s annual export of hot-rolled steel sheets to the US which stands at some 1.2 million tons. Hot-rolled steel sheets imported from South Korea are processed into cold-rolled steel products and sold in the US by South Korean affiliates which have formed a partnership with U.S. Steel. If a 3.89 percent anti-dumping duty and a compensation duty of 57.04 percent are finalized, POSCO will virtually lose its price competitiveness.
The US government has levied a total of 13.38 percent tariff, a 9.49 percent anti-dumping duty and a 3.89 percent compensation duty, on products of Hyundai Steel. Export of Hyundai Steel products will also suffer though not as severely as that of POSCO products
The Korean steel industry plans to take actions after thoroughly reviewing the U.S. Department of Commerce’s ruling. The industry will make efforts to make the Korean government understand the unfairness of the US government’s decision and take the case to the World Trade Organization.