S.Korea's Dongkuk Steel to temporarily suspend U.S. exports amid tariff spat

Dongkuk Holdings Co

15/03/2018 11:00

SEOUL, March 15 (Reuters) - South Korea's Dongkuk Steel
 001230.KS  said on Thursday that it would temporarily halt its
April exports to United States as the country tries to win
exemptions from U.S. steel tariffs.  
    A company spokesman said the steelmaker put on hold its
exports for April, while South Korean government has said it
keeps asking for the country's steel to be waived from the
tariffs.
    "We haven't decided yet whether or not we will continue to
stop exporting our products to U.S," the spokesman said.   
    South Korea will "deploy all possible means" to respond to
U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to impose tariffs on
steel and aluminium imports, the country's finance minister said
on Monday.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1QT0QK  
    Dongkuk sold about 130 billion won ($122.29 million) worth
of steel products to the U.S. last year, which accounted for
about 4 percent of its total sales, according to the spokesman.
    Last week, Trump pressed ahead with import tariffs of 25
percent on steel and 10 percent for aluminium, but exempted
Canada and Mexico and offered the possibility of excluding other
allies, backtracking from an earlier "no-exceptions" stance.
    President Trump said earlier that he was ready to work out
an exception for Australia, while Japan, South Korea, the
European Union and Brazil called for similar treatment. 
    South Korea is one of the primary providers of steel for
pipeline companies. South Korean oil and drilling pipe makers
have said they are considering sending exports to other parts of
the world due to difficulties with shipping to the U.S., even
before the tariffs go into effect.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1QU0M2

    ($1 = 1,063.0600 won)

 (Reporting by Jane Chung, Writing by Ju-min Park; Editing by
Christian Schmollinger)
 ((ju-min.park@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5650; Reuters
Messaging: ju-min.park.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))