S. Korea ramps up outreach to U.S. for talks on Trump-era steel tariffs

SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Wednesday vowed to further ramp up outreach to the United States to swiftly begin talks to revise the Section 232 tariff rules on Seoul's steel exports following Washington's recent deal with Japan.

On Monday, the U.S. and Japan announced their agreement to remove tariffs from about 1.25 million tons of Japanese steel imports annually starting April after Washington granted similar access for European Union steelmakers late last year.

The U.S. waived the tariffs on South Korean steel products in 2018, but it was in return for a yearly import quota of 2.63 million tons of steel, or 70 percent of Seoul's average steel products export volume over the past three years.

Seoul's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Wednesday held an emergency meeting with 11 local steelmakers, including POSCO and Hyundai Steel Co., and discussed responses.

"We will closely analyze their potential impact on our steel imports, and will seek measures to respond to changing circumstances in close coordination with companies," the ministry said in a release.

It also vowed to more actively raise the issue not only with the U.S. government but also U.S. Congress and various U.S. economic organizations for the swift resumption of negotiations.

Since the U.S.-EU deal, South Korea has urged Washington to launch negotiations on the issue, stressing it is a stable supplier to the U.S. of high-quality steel products, which would help the U.S.' "Build Back Better" policy drive, and the two nations are key allies in terms of economy and security.

But the U.S. has not acceded to the call.

Some say no talks could be held at least before the U.S.' midterm elections in November.

The deals are feared to have a negative impact on South Korea's exports of steel products due to the potential increase in the volume of EU and Japanese steel imports in the U.S. market.

graceoh@yna.co.kr
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