South Korea has finalized anti-dumping duties of up to 33.67% on Chinese cold-rolled steel products coated with zinc or zinc alloys. The government also extended by five years the anti-dumping duties on Chinese offset printing plates that have been in place since 2017.
The Trade Commission under the Ministry of Trade and Industry said it reviewed and approved the measures at its 478th meeting on the 23rd. For the Chinese cold-rolled products, the provisional anti-dumping duty rates of 22.34% to 33.67% imposed in April were carried over unchanged as final anti-dumping duties. The commission concluded that volume dumping by Chinese producers had caused substantial damage to domestic companies. The duties will apply for five years. Galvanized cold-rolled steel is cold-rolled sheet coated with zinc or zinc alloys and is used in a wide range of products, including construction materials, auto parts, home appliances and piping and steel tubes.
All of the companies except Winston Development accepted a price undertaking proposed by the government. Under a price undertaking, exporters raise their prices enough to avoid injuring the domestic industry, and in return the payment of anti-dumping duties is suspended.
The commission also decided to keep anti-dumping duties of 10.32% on Chinese flat photographic plates used in printing, known as offset printing plates, for another five years. Those duties were first imposed in 2017 and extended once in May 2021. The commission has repeatedly extended the period, judging that injury to the domestic industry would recur if the existing anti-dumping measures were terminated.
At the meeting, the commission was also briefed on the launch of a dumping investigation into Chinese seamless steel pipe. Seamless steel pipe is made without joints and is used for piping that carries gases and liquids as well as for automotive and machinery parts.
The investigation began on the 8th at the request of Iljin Steel. The commission plans to issue a preliminary determination in February next year, hold a public hearing in May and make a final determination in July.