Gov’t targets treatment of exporters

The government is rolling up its sleeves to protect exporters from reckless regulations by other countries amid growing moves against Korean products abroad.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said yesterday it has launched a task force to deal with rising claims against Korean companies.

The government action was sparked by a recent decision by U.S. authorities to conduct an antidumping probe of Korean-made steel oil pipes.

Small exporters have sought government support as they face growing difficulties due to increasing conflicts with foreign trade authorities.

Early this year, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) approved antidumping duties and countervailing duties on three Korean washing machine makers.

As of June 30, Korean exporters faced a total of 129 import regulations, the ministry said. Most of them involve chemicals and steel.

In the first half of the year alone, 14 claims were made against Korean exporters.

According to a report by the Institute for International Trade, Korea has so far received the second-largest amount of antidumping duties after China, with 297 such cases investigated. An additional 180 were concluded as companies ended up paying the duties.

Korea has also been slapped with countervailing duties more times than any other country except China. There were 55 investigations on Korean companies, and 13 exporters were hit with the duties.

BY SONG SU-HYUN [ssh@joongang.co.kr]