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Steelmakers vow to work with gov't to respond to U.S. tariffs

Published: 09 Mar. 2025, 16:31

Steel products are piled up at a port in Pyeongtaek, about 65 kilometers south of Seoul, on Feb. 11. [YONHAP]

Korean steel companies said Friday that they will closely cooperate with the government and related agencies to minimize the impact of planned U.S. tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports from next week.

U.S. President Donald Trump has announced a series of levies on some of his country's trading partners, including Canada and Mexico, since taking office in January.

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

In late February, Korean officials requested an exemption from the tariffs on steel and aluminum during their visit to Washington, but to no apparent avail.

Seoul's responses to the Trump government's latest tariff plans have been affected by political turmoil sparked by President Yoon Suk Yeol's brief martial law imposition last December.

Posco and Hyundai Steel, the country's two biggest steelmakers, said they are planning to consult with the government, the Korea Iron & Steel Association and other related agencies to cope with the upcoming tariffs.

"We are considering several options, including building a steel plant in the United States, in response to the tariffs," a Posco spokesperson said over the phone.

He did not elaborate on the steel mill plan or other options.

"Hyundai Steel expects that the U.S. imposition of sweeping tariffs on steel imports will have a negative impact on the steel industry in the long term," a company spokesperson said.

SeAH Steel Holdings, which has a U.S. production facility for oil country tubular goods used for extraction in oil fields, said it also expects the upcoming tariffs to deal a blow to its business.

The holding firm's steel unit, SeAH Steel, sold one-fourth of its annual steel pipe production of 1 million tons in the U.S. last year.

Under the Korea-U.S. FTA, almost all tariffs between the two countries have already been eliminated.

During his first term, Trump imposed 25 percent tariffs on all steel imports to the United States in 2018, citing national security concerns.

At the time, the Washington. waived the tariffs on steel products from Korea in return for a yearly import quota of 2.63 million tons, which accounted for about 70 percent of Seoul's average export volume between 2015 and 2017.

If the new tariffs are imposed, the quotas will be immediately abolished.

Korea was the fourth-largest exporter of steel to the United States last year, accounting for some 11 percent of the country's steel imports, according to data from the U.S. International Trade Administration.

The country was also the fourth-biggest exporter of aluminum to the United States, taking up about 4 percent of aluminum imports.

Meanwhile, Trump has again delayed tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods that are covered under a trade agreement among the three countries until April 2.

Early last month, Trump announced the tariffs on Canada and Mexico, highlighting the need to stop an inflow of undocumented migrants and illicit drugs to the United States.

He then agreed to the initial one-month pause, as his country's two largest trading partners pledged to ramp up efforts to prevent drug trafficking.

On Friday, shares in Posco Holdings, the holding company of Posco Group, jumped 7.28 percent to 317,000 won, and Hyundai Steel advanced 8.7 percent to 31,850 won. The broader Korea Stock Price Index fell 0.49 percent.

Despite the planned tariffs, steel stocks jumped on the possibility of joining the Trump government's natural gas pipeline project in Alaska, analysts said.

Trump mentioned Korea and Japan as countries interested in the "gigantic" project during his address to a joint session of Congress on March 4.

Yonhap