"Surging Import Regulations...Urgent Need for Early Response and Country-Specific Strategies"

KCCI Seminar... Korean Import Regulations Double in 9 Years
US Applies New Import Regulation Logic and Increases Circumvention Export Investigations
India Applies Import Regulations to Korean Products Due to Strengthened Chinese Regulations
China Recently Stagnant... Early Response to Investigations Crucial

Status of New Import Regulation Investigations Against Korea. Unit: Cases.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seoyoon] Early response is crucial in the surge of import regulations, and it is urgent to establish response strategies according to the characteristics of measures by country, experts suggested.

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held a seminar titled “Global Import Regulation Trends and Response Cases” on the 25th. Attendees included Shim Jinsoo, Director of Trade Law and Policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy; Kang Jeongsu, Head of the Trade Remedy Group at Law Firm Sejong; Lee Chanju, CEO of DKC Global; Kim Taeik, CEO of LEEINTA; Jung Jonghoon, CPA at Law Firm Hwawoo; Jung Chaewon, Executive Director of The ITC; as well as government officials, law firms, accounting firms, related organizations, and export company representatives.

Import regulations are trade remedy measures against unfair trade practices such as anti-dumping, countervailing duties, and safeguards. Import regulations against Korea nearly doubled from 117 cases in 2011 to 228 cases in 2020. The seminar focused on global import regulation trends and outlooks, and the characteristics and response cases of import regulation measures in major countries such as the United States, China, India, and T?rkiye.

"Global competition and intensified protection of domestic industries will increase import regulations"

Jung Chaewon, Executive Director of THE ITC (CPA), the first speaker, explained, “Due to the pandemic’s impact causing reduced trade volume, increased money supply, and supply chain disruptions triggered by the Ukraine crisis, abnormal inflation occurred, which led to strong business performance for companies worldwide, resulting in a temporary decline in import regulations in 2020 and 2021.”

However, he added, “New global import regulation investigations are generally on the rise, and global competition and protection of domestic industries are intensifying,” predicting that import regulations will return to average levels and increase sharply.

Executive Director Jung noted, “Global import regulation measures have been concentrated on material industries such as steel and chemicals,” and said, “Since Korea’s material industry export items are similar to China’s export items, and due to the US-China hegemony competition making it increasingly difficult for Chinese products to be exported to the US, competition in third-country export markets will intensify.” He further forecasted, “Along with the global economic downturn, profitability in major industries has recently declined, increasing the likelihood of utilizing protective trade measures such as import regulations.”

US applies new import regulation logics including carbon-related issues → Expected increase in subsidy rate determinations and surge in circumvention export investigations

Secondly, Kang Jeongsu, Head of the Trade Remedy Group at Law Firm Sejong (CPA), emphasized the importance of new rebuttal logics and evidence preparation in US import regulation trends.

He explained that recently, US anti-dumping petitioners have been using “Particular Market Situation (PMS)” to argue new logics, with Korean steel products being a representative example. PMS refers to situations where an alternative price can be used instead of the domestic price of the exporting country when determining dumping.

Kang stated, “In the annual review of Korean steel products, Korea’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is perceived as providing 100% free allocation to Korean steel producers, effectively functioning like a subsidy.” He added, “Although the subsidy rate is minor (0.01?0.23%), it has been identified, and with the third phase of Korea’s ETS increasing the paid allocation ratio from 3% to 10%, the subsidy rate determined in future rulings is expected to rise, so preparation is necessary.”

Furthermore, Kang advised regarding US circumvention export investigations, “Since numerous investigations into circumvention exports involving assembly and finished products in third countries have been initiated, products exported to the US should use domestically sourced raw materials from the final production country to prevent circumvention exports.”

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