Tariffs on Korean Steel
The U.S. Department of Commerce called the price of electricity into question again while releasing the result of its anti-dumping investigation on April 13 with regard to oil country tubular goods (OCTG) imported from South Korea.
According to the department, the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) is providing subsidies for South Korean steelmakers by applying low electricity prices and the companies are supplying their products at low prices in the United States by saving their production costs by means of the low electricity prices.
Those in the South Korean steel industry say the determination of the department is self-contradictory in that it said the electricity prices are not problematic during the same determination on the same products in 2015. At that time, the department mentioned that the electricity prices set by the KEPCO are based on data provided by an independent external accounting firm and calculation methods common to multiple power companies, adding that the KEPCO used the same price setting method in multiple industries including steel.
Then, U.S. steelmakers filed a complaint with the United States Court of International Trade. However, the court ruled in favor of the department last year.
“The U.S. Department of Commerce is ignoring the ruling of the court, not to mention denying what it said,” said a South Korean steelmaker, adding, “This is to impose retaliatory tariffs on South Korean steel by any means.”
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