Seoul: South Korea’s industry ministry held an emergency meeting Monday to assess the possible impact on local businesses from the United States’ plan to impose a 25 percent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy conducted the meeting with officials from major local steel companies, including POSCO Holdings Inc. and Hyundai Steel Co., to discuss responses to the proposed U.S. tariffs, according to ministry officials.
According to Yonhap News Agency, earlier in the day, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he would introduce the new 25 percent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports into the U.S. on Monday (U.S. time). This announcement has raised concerns that South Korean companies could be directly affected by the anticipated U.S. tariffs, which differ from the Trump administration’s previous tariffs on Canadian, Mexican, and Chinese goods.
South Korea is responsible for approximately 13 percent of U.S. steel imports, based on data from the Korea International Trade Association (KITA). In 2018, Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on all steel imports to the U.S., citing national security concerns. At that time, the U.S. waived the tariffs on South Korean steel products in exchange for a yearly import quota of 2.63 million tons, which accounted for about 70 percent of Seoul’s average export volume between 2015 and 2017.
During the emergency meeting, Deputy Trade Minister Park Jong-won stated that the government plans to “proactively” respond to the shift in U.S. trade policy by utilizing “all available networks” and maintaining close collaboration with related industries.