Emerging Countries like India Have More Than Twice the Import Restrictions on Korean Products Compared to Developed Countries

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Among the 10 countries that initiated import regulation investigations on Korean products last year, 8 were emerging countries.

According to the "Review of Import Regulations in 2019" released by the Korea International Trade Association on the 16th, there were 207 cases worldwide last year where import regulations on Korean products were either in effect or under investigation prior to regulation. Among these, regulations by emerging countries such as the New Southern countries, Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), and the Middle East accounted for 139 cases (67.1%), more than twice the 68 cases (32.9%) imposed by advanced countries like the United States and the European Union (EU).

In 2019, there were 41 new import regulation investigations initiated, with 34 cases (82.9%) in emerging countries and 7 cases (17.1%) in advanced countries by region. By product category, steel and metal products led with 14 cases, followed by chemical products with 8 cases, and plastic and rubber products with 5 cases.

In particular, India began aggressively utilizing import regulations, recording a historic high of 12 investigations on Korean products last year. India is employing various measures, including utilizing bilateral safeguards under the Korea-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and initiating countervailing duty investigations for the first time since 2000. The report stated, "Recent activation of trade remedy measures by India's Directorate General of Trade Remedies likely influenced this trend," and added, "Import regulations are expected to continue strengthening for the time being."

The United States, which recently triggered the spread of import regulations, is not only increasing the quantity of import regulations but also enhancing investigation techniques, thereby raising the level of regulation on Korean products. The U.S. Department of Commerce has started using new methods such as regression analysis in import regulation investigations and has also ruled exports from our companies' third-country local factories as circumvention dumping.

Meanwhile, import regulation measures have been shown to have an immediate negative impact on exports of the affected products. As the range of regulated products expands recently, some small and medium-sized enterprises are giving up on responding due to cost burdens, resulting in export suspensions.

Shin Seung-kwan, head of the Trade Support Center at the Korea International Trade Association, said, "Considering recent trends, import regulations on Korean products are expected to increase again this year, mainly in emerging countries," and added, "We will promptly deliver import regulation trends so that Korean companies diversifying their markets can prepare in advance, and actively conduct outreach activities targeting major regulatory countries such as the United States."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.