U.S. import restrictions to hurt South Korean exports
  • 6 years ago
The Trump Administration has imposed tariffs on goods ranging from steel and aluminum to washing machines.
A report by the National Assembly shows South Korea could suffer losses due to the growing trade protectionist moves.
Kim Hyesung reports.

An export loss of around two-point-six trillion Korean won, or two-point-three billion U.S. dollars.
Report by the National Assembly's Budget Office on Thursday shows South Korea could suffer a loss of more than two billion dollars due to the U.S. import restrictions on Korean steel, washing machines and solar cells.
It estimated the regulations could also result in the loss of up to 16-thousand jobs.
South Korea is exempt from the Trump administration's 25 percent tariff on steel, but it has received a quota of about 2-point-68 million tons of steel exports, or 70 percent of the annual average Korean steel exports to the United States between 2015 and 2017, as part of an amendment to the South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement.
South Korea is not allowed to export steel products exceeding that quota to the U.S. market.
The report says the quota could lead to a potential loss of one-point-two billion dollars, including over six-and-a-half thousand job losses.
Korean washing machines also face safeguard measures for three years starting 2018, and it's expected to result in even greater job losses, but mainly outside of Korea, as most washing machine exports to the U.S. are produced abroad.
Solar panel exports are also under fire.
A 30-percent tariff is applied after the first 2.5 gigawatts in the first year, falling to 15-percent by the fourth year.
The report says the safeguard measures on solar panels could lead to a loss of 470 million dollars and slightly over 1,300 jobs in the industry.
Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.
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