This undated file photo provided by POSCO shows cold-rolled stainless steel products. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, April 3 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean steelmakers said Thursday they will set up an “item-by-item” export strategy through close consultations with government officials and industry associations in response to hefty U.S. tariffs.
U.S. President Donald Trump imposed 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports in mid-March and slapped country-specific reciprocal duties on around 60 countries, including 26 percent duties for South Korea.
Korean steelmakers, already suffering an oversupply and slowing prices, had been deeply concerned that the addition of reciprocal tariffs may significantly undermine their price competitiveness in the U.S. market.
Giving them a breather, the White House on Wednesday (local time) said steel and aluminum imports will not be subject to the reciprocal tariffs.
Steel stocks were mixed on the news, with POSCO Holdings down 0.09 percent to 271,750 won and Hyundai Steel Co. up 0.62 percent to 24,250 won as of 12:10 p.m.
“We (steelmakers) will closely cooperate with the government and the Korea Iron & Steel Association (KISA) to swiftly respond to U.S. tariffs. While monitoring the market, we will revise our export strategies, focusing on each product type,” a Hyundai Steel official said.
Steel products are piled up at a port in Pyeongtaek, about 65 kilometers south of Seoul, on March 11, 2025, a day before the U.S. government’s 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports kick off. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
His position was echoed by POSCO, the country’s leading steelmaker.
Steel export data for March are being collected for release later in the month. Once the monthly data is announced, local steel firms will be able to devise their export strategies, a KISA official said.
“Accumulated export data for the three months through June will clearly show how much Trump’s tariffs affected local steelmakers’ earnings,” the official said.
On top of revising their export strategies, Hyundai Steel has decided to build an integrated steel mill in the U.S., while POSCO is reviewing investment plans for “upstream steel processes” there.
“We are now giving serious consideration to investment plans for U.S. production facilities,” a POSCO official said.
Hyundai Steel plans to invest US$5.8 billion to build an electric arc furnace-based integrated steel mill in Louisiana by 2029, with an aim to start production in the same year.
The companies also said they will develop high-value-added products and enhance technological capabilities to cut manufacturing costs, strengthening their competitiveness in the global market.
Korea previously benefited from a duty-free quota under the first Trump administration.
At the time, the U.S. waived tariffs on Korean steel products in exchange for a yearly import quota of 2.63 million tons, which accounted for about 70 percent of Seoul’s average export volume between 2015 and 2017.
The quota was immediately abolished after the U.S. began imposing 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports last month.
(Yonhap)
