·South Korea has secured 2.07 million metric tons of dedicated tariff-free steel exports to the European Union under the bloc's new import regime, with Korean steelmakers potentially able to ship up to 3.55 million tons, including access to shared quotas.
·The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said Tuesday the European Commission announced the operating plan and country-by-country allocations for the new tariff-rate quota system, which takes effect Wednesday and replaces the existing steel safeguard measures.
·Under the new system, the EU will raise tariffs on steel imports exceeding quota limits to 50 percent across 30 product categories, while cutting annual duty-free import volumes by about 46 percent to 18.35 million tons from 33.82 million tons.
·While Korea’s dedicated tariff-free quota was reduced by 19.7 percent to 2.073 million tons from 2.581 million tons under the previous safeguard regime, Seoul said the outcome reflected its efforts to defend Korean steelmakers’ access to the EU market as the bloc cut its overall tariff-free steel import volume by about 46 percent.
·“Our priority from the start was to secure as much Korea-specific quota as possible,” Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo said in a press briefing.
