Steel Products Prices North America

South Korea Challenges U.S. Over OCTG Tariffs

December 23, 2014

South Korea has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the U.S. decision to impose countervailing and antidumping on tariffs on steel pipe from South Korea.

In 2013, South Korea exported 894,300 tons of OCTG products to the U.S., which U.S. steelmakers said were sold in the U.S. at artificially low prices. In August, the International Trade Commission confirmed tariffs imposed by the DOC of up to 16 percent on the South Korean steel pipe used in oil drilling.

“We believe that the U.S. commerce department potentially violated WTO rules when it investigated the anti-dumping case, including calculating dumping margins,” said the South Korean trade ministry in a statement. The tariffs, said the trade ministry, put South Korea at a competitive disadvantage with imports of steel pipe from India and other countries.

The complaint requires the U.S. and South Korea to enter into negotiations regarding the matter within 30 days. If a solution is not found within two months, the WTO can intervene and reach an independent verdict.

The process was used earlier this year to settle a U.S./South Korea dispute over duties imposed on imported washing machines.

The South Korean filing follows an admonishment of the U.S. by the WTO for the way the DOC assesses the impact of dumped and subsidized imports in determining injuries.