ROK, Japan, EU Join Forces Against US..

ROK, Japan, EU Join Forces Against US..

ROK, Japan, EU Join Forces Against US Steel Protectionism
By Shim Jae-yun
Staff Reporter


Japan joined with Korea and the European Union in their alliance against U.S. moves to protect its steel makers.

Korean and EU steel makers met on March 21 to take a common stance against the U.S. steel protectionism. Korean and Japanese steel makers will also meet on April 9 in Tokyo, according to the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy.

Steel makers of these countries are to close ranks as Washington is moving to invoke the Section 201 trade law, implementation of which would bring about serious damage to U.S. bound steel exports.

U.S. President George Bush, pressured by the U.S. steel industry, has revoked the planned reappointment of Thelma Askey, a free trade advocate, as a member of the International Trade Commission.

The Washington office of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) yesterday said the decision for her non-appointment came due to persistent lobbies by U.S. steel companies and related lawmakers.

Earlier, Mark Glyptis, chairman of the Independent Steel Union (ISU), sent a letter to President Bush, calling for the revoking of the naming of Askey in a bid to help aid troubled U.S. steel companies.

According to industry sources and the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Zoellick in a recent press conference indicated the U.S. will positively seek to invoke the Section 201 law in conjunction with adjustment efforts within the U.S.steel industry.

``Section 201 would be one of the best alternatives to help resolve the growing difficulties facing the U.S. steel industry,'' he said.

A KITA report that analyzed the U.S. administration has yet to conclude on the matter due mainly to different positions held by related White House officials.

``And the administration has also yet to name relevant officials,'' a KITA official said.

The U.S. claimed that due to the influx of low-priced steel products from mostly Asian nations, including Korea, the U.S. steel industry has been suffering growing managerial hardship.

To find a solution to the problem, representatives from steel companies and labor unions have been holding rounds of meetings.

A domestic industry source expressed concern that the U.S. move toward Section 201 would stir controversy regarding the possible ``dual'' import restrictive steps by the U.S.

``Given the imposition of 70 percent anti-dumping duties, the implementation of the Section 201 will inflict a further burden on the steel exporters, dealing a severe blow to domestic steel exporters,'' he said.

Under Section 201 the U.S. president is entitled to take emergency safeguard measures once he deems that the U.S. industry faces a serious crisis due to a rapid rise in imports.

The Korea Steel Industry Association foresees the nation's exports of steel products would decrease by 1 million tons this year, down 42 percent from a year earlier, in the event the U.S. employs the import quota system.

The export amount will be equivalent to the level seen before the 1997 period, said the association.

It also expressed wariness over the possibility of a drastic fall in prices of international steel goods due to the blocked exports and of an increasing number of countries following the U.S. lead.

In order to prevent the U.S. from involving Section 201 the government needs to make clear its opposition while the related industries need to make concerted efforts toward that end, said Lee Myong-woo, director of the Pohang Iron and Steel Co. (POSCO).