The United States is set to conduct anti-dumping investigations into Korean steel products.

U.S. Steel and other American steel makers are accusing Korean steel mills of selling products below costs, KOTRA saidTuesday. Their main target is China, the largest steel exporter to U.S., but Korea is also likely to fall prey to the action as the third largest exporter, the nation's state-run trade promotion firm said.

Korea's steel products shipments to America are robust at present, mainly thanks to a price edge amid the weak won currency. It exported 235,600 tons in January, up 130.8 percent year-on-year to account for 11 percent of the U.S. market. In the same month, China's exports shrank 10.2 percent to 396,100 tons.

Currently, 11 out of the 15 U.S. import restriction cases on Korean products concern steel products, raising fears on further restriction to Korean steel mills.

In addition, the U.S. International Trade Committee decided to extend its steel imports monitoring system until 2013.The action aims at promptly imposing restrictive actions and was scheduled to expire as of Saturday.

Meanwhile, Indonesia is sending out more realistic signals that it is ready to heighten trade barriers. Jakarta last week informed Seoul that it has formally accepted a request for anti-dumping probe against hot-rolled coil products imported from Malaysia and Korea.

The Southeast Asian country considered investigations on steel imports last year but didn't implement them.

Earlier this month, the European Union announced it decided to give up anti-dumping demands in cold-rolled stainless steel plates imported from China, Taiwan and Korea.

By Kim Hyun-cheol

hckim@koreatimes.co.kr

Staff Reporter

03-24-2009 17:05

Source: www.koreatimes.co.kr