Most bad news for the nation's steelmakers after a tough few years.
South Korea will be unable to export some steel products to the United States this year…because their import quotas have already been reached.
Park Se-young has more.
Some South Korean steel products could be sat unsold at home for the rest of 2018, …as yearly U.S. import quotas,… aimed at protecting the domestic industry, have already been hit.
According to detailed customs clearance procedures recently revealed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, South Korean steelmakers will not be allowed to export eight out of 54 products to the world's largest economy.
This is because the U.S. has set a yearly import quota of two-point-six-three million tons for South Korean steel products, …or 70 percent of their average export volume between 2015 and 2017.
The restricted products include steel pipe piles, cold-rolled stainless steel and tool steel.
According to figures measured on a customs-cleared basis, South Korean steelmakers exported products amounting to nearly 35 percent of the annual quota as of April 20th, …with figures varying depending on the goods.
In order to protect domestic companies, the U.S. has also set quarterly quotas on top of import quotas for the full year.
To prevent the concentration of imports in a specific period, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has banned the import of steel products …exceeding 30 percent of the annual quota for a quarter.
This may pose a problem for South Korean steelmakers in the second quarter as their shipments could again exceed the quarterly quota limit.
South Korea's commerce ministry says it's discussing ways with the U.S. on how best to meet the quotas.
Park Se-young, Arirang News.