"Damage from Low-Cost Imports, Trade Remedy Measures Must Be Activated"

The 5th Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Trade Forum

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] As domestic industries such as steel, textiles, and machinery suffer damage from low-priced imported products, a forum was held to discuss improvement measures for trade remedy systems to protect domestic industries.

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) held the "5th KCCI Trade Forum" on the 26th in collaboration with the law firm Sejong to discuss the rapidly changing trade environment.

Sejong law firm accountant Jo Myung-sung, who presented on "Post-COVID Trade Environment Outlook and Major Countries' Trade Remedy Measures Trends," stated, "Despite the COVID-19 situation, the United States is actively conducting anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations, and continues to maintain protectionist measures such as Section 301 and Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act," adding, "Regardless of the U.S. presidential election results, the U.S. will continuously pressure China and support protectionism."

Accountant Jo emphasized, "We need to reduce dependence on the U.S. and China and attempt to diversify export regions to flexibly respond to the rapidly changing trade environment after COVID-19 by seeking industrial structural changes," and "We must devise effective trade remedy investigation methods in non-face-to-face situations and continuously monitor anti-dumping and countervailing duty trends in major countries."

Jo proposed the following countermeasures for domestic companies regarding trade remedies and unfair trade practices: ▲ Active protection of domestic industries through domestic filing ▲ Strengthening companies' trade expertise ▲ Establishing research and investigation bases for countervailing duties ▲ Exploring the introduction of anti-dumping duty investigation systems such as Special Market Situation (PMS) and Non-Market Economy (NME).

The second presenter, Lee Min-cheol, full-time vice chairman of the Korea Iron & Steel Association, explained, "Our country's steel market has one of the highest domestic market shares of imported steel products globally, but unlike other major importers such as the U.S., EU, and India, there are almost no tariff or non-tariff barriers, leaving imports virtually unprotected."

He added, "Our steel industry has faced 90 cases of complaints (77 regulations, 13 investigations) from 19 countries including the U.S., ASEAN, and Canada, but Korea has filed only 7 cases against the global steel market," emphasizing, "More active trade remedy measures are needed against unfairly imported products that could harm domestic industries."

The third presenter, Jung Dong-chang, full-time vice chairman of the Korea Federation of Textile Industries, stated, "Our textile products are currently subject to a total of 14 import restrictions (10 anti-dumping, 4 safeguards) from six countries," and noted, "Since 2019, countries like Indonesia and Turkey have frequently imposed safeguards to protect their domestic textile industries and restrict low-priced Chinese imports, while the U.S. and Turkey have imposed 20-year anti-dumping measures on polyester staple fiber (PSF) and polyester filament fabric, causing difficulties for our companies in expanding exports."

The fourth presenter, Professor Ahn Deok-geun of Seoul National University Graduate School of International Studies, said, "Advanced countries in trade remedy systems have been continuously strengthening related systems and organizations for the past 4 to 5 years," and emphasized, "At this point, compounded by the COVID-19 crisis, it is urgent to improve trade remedy systems and enhance the organizational capabilities of the Trade Commission to effectively protect domestic industries."

Woo Tae-hee, full-time vice chairman of KCCI and chair of the meeting, said, "Domestic industries such as steel, textiles, and machinery are suffering significant damage due to low-priced imported products, so trade remedy measures must be activated," and added, "The government should closely monitor trade remedy measures in major countries and actively implement trade remedy measures such as anti-dumping and countervailing duties to protect domestic industries."

Thirteen experts from the host organizations KCCI and law firm Sejong, as well as from government, academia, and industry, attended the forum. KCCI regularly holds the "KCCI Trade Forum" to review trade issues in major economic zones such as the U.S., China, and Japan.

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