U.S. Court puts a break on a 25-percent tariff

U.S. Court puts a break on a 25-percent tariff. January. 21, 2019 07:47. aurinko@donga.com,bjk@donga.com.
The U.S. Court of International Trade put a break on imposing high tariff on Korean steel. This is going to greatly help domestic steel makers avoid tariff bombs.

The court announced a court ruling of a lawsuit between Korean steel makers, such as Nexteel and Hyundai Steel, and the U.S. government, and ordered to adjust the tariff rate. The reason behind the ruling was that the “Particular Market Situation (PMS),” an anti-dumping investigation method, used by the U.S. Department of Commerce to impose tariff on Korean steel was not reasonable as it could not be applied to businesses in general. It is the first time that Court of International Trade has put a limit on PMS application, and it is projected that this will be advantage for Korean businesses in similar lawsuits.

“It is a positive outcome that the Court of International Trade took Korean steelmakers’ side, but we need to keep an eye on this as the U.S. government has not adjusted the tariff rate yet,” said an industry insider who participated in the lawsuit.