The South Korean government and steel industry should consider all measures, including filing a complaint with the WTO, in response to “deepening US trade protectionism,” a South Korean steel company official said.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday launched a trade probe against China and other exporters of cheap steel into the US market, raising the possibility of new tariffs.
The US has already slapped a series of anti-dumping duties on steel imports from South Korea and other countries.
South Korea’s steel association said the US is the second-biggest market after China for South Korean steel products and accounted for about 12 percent of the country’s total exports of the metal last year.
A senior official at the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said the government is considering its response to the US move.
“We are open to all possible options, including filing a complaint with the WTO, but nothing has been decided. We will decide after listening to opinions of the Korean steel industry,” the official said.
A spokeswoman for the ministry said it has not made an official public response on the issue.
Pohang Iron and Steel Co shares were up 2.7 percent and Hyundai Steel Co stocks were up 1.3 percent in the wider market that climbed 0.9 percent.
“Rising trade protectionism is negative to the steel industry overall, but the industry has been recovering, helping cushion the negative impact,” NH Investment & Securities Co analyst Will Byun said.
Shares of other Asian steelmakers were mostly steady or higher, as investors dismissed for now any negative effects from the launch of a US trade probe against Chinese steel exporters, although Chinese companies shed some of their earlier gains.
China’s Angang Steel Co (鞍鋼) added 0.4 percent, while Baoshan Iron & Steel Co (寶鋼), Beijing Shougang Co (北京首鋼) and Hesteel Co Ltd (河鋼) inched down between 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent, while Japan’s Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp jumped 1 percent.
“The US accounts for a small proportion of China’s steel exports,” said Yang Kunhe, steel analyst at Northeast Securities Co (東北證券) in Beijing, adding that Northeast Asia and Africa have been growing markets for Chinese steel over the past few years.
However, “if Trump’s probe translates into actions, it would increase the chance of trade friction and hurt market sentiment,” Yang said.
Only 0.8 percent of Chinese steel exports go to the US, according to a US Commerce Department report from December last year.
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