The nation’s steel exports could lose competitiveness in the US market as Washington is set to impose heavy tariffs on Taiwanese goods, while sparing rival countries from unfavorable terms, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The ministry said it has grave concerns over US-destined shipments of steel and related products which are expected to slump this year because of a 25 percent tariff, compared with US$3.73 billion recorded last year.
The US accounts for 21.5 percent of Taiwan’s steel exports valued at US$17.34 billion last year, the ministry said, adding that the figure represented 5.5 percent of overall outbound shipments, the ministry said on its Web site.
That gave Taiwan a market share of 5.6 percent in the US, the fifth-largest after China with 18.8 percent; Canada with 14.1 percent; Mexico with 9.6 percent; and South Korea with 5.9 percent, the ministry said.
Taiwan’s ranking is expected to drop to 10th place this year as the US has indicated plans to spare steel imports from Canada and Mexico the tariff and would grant South Korea a temporary reprieve, the ministry said.
Canada would grow into the largest steel exporter to the US, followed by South Korea, Mexico, Japan, Germany and China, the ministry said, adding that the US is such a big market that no steel exporter can afford to ignore it.
The government would continue efforts to seek favorable trade terms for local steel exporters, the ministry said.
More than 10 Taiwanese steel products are already subjected to countervailing duties by the US government and extra burdens would hurt the local steel industry, the Taiwan Steel & Iron Industries Association (台灣鋼鐵工業同業公會) said earlier this month.
Exports to the US include cold-rolled steel coils, coated steel rolls, welded steel pipes and cold-rolled stainless steel coils, the association said, adding that the products are mainly used in construction, automotive manufacturing and petrochemical production processes.
The latest protectionist measure would help boost US steelmakers’ production utilization rate in the short term, the association said.
In the long term, the duties could drive foreign steelmakers to move their manufacturing facilities to the US, the trade group said, adding that this would lower US demand for steel imports and weaken Taiwan’s steel industry.
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