South Korea says asked US to exclude it from new tariffs

SEOUL: South Korea has asked Washington to exclude it from planned US tariffs on steel and aluminium, Seoul's trade ministry said Friday.

US President Donald Trump has announced a broad range of levies on some of his country's biggest trading partners since taking office in January, arguing that they will help tackle unfair practices.

Among them are 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from March 12.

He also warned this week that he would impose tariffs "in the neighbourhood of 25 percent" on auto imports and a similar amount or higher on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.

South Korea is home to the world's key chipmakers, Samsung and SK hynix, and was the fourth-largest exporter of steel to the United States last year.

On Friday, Seoul said Deputy Trade Minister Park Jong-won asked the United States not to include South Korea "in mutual tariffs and various tariff measures such as those on steel and aluminium".

He emphasised the contributions of large-scale investments by South Korean firms to the US economy and noted that "under the Seoul-Washington free trade agreement, tariffs on nearly all items between the two countries have already been eliminated".

The request was made during Park's trip to Washington this week, the ministry said, during which he spoke to officials from the White House and the US Department of Commerce, among others.

South Korea's steel industry has faced intense pressure in recent years as it grapples with oversupply -- particularly from China -- and a decrease in global demand.

The US tariffs are likely to intensify those challenges, and analysts warn that should cheap Chinese steel barred from the US market begin to flood regions like Southeast Asia and Europe, South Korean steel producers will face deepening price competition.