South Korean trade minister Yeo Han-koo has stated at a press conference that the US should begin trade negotiations with South Korea on steel tariffs.
This month, the US reached an agreement with the EU, replacing the Section 232 tariffs on steel with a tariff-rate quota, as SteelOrbis previously reported. Also, the US has begun negotiations with Japan. Yeo Han-koo said that the US restrictions on steel imports from South Korea should be revised, as the country is competing with the EU and Japan in the US market.
The country is excluded from these negotiations, as the US set a limit for South Korea at 70 percent of the average volume of South Korea’s exports to the US between 2015 and 2017, under an agreement in 2018, in return for which South Korean manufacturer were to be exempted from the 25 percent tariff under Section 232.