On March 4, 2025, the Korea Trade Commission (KTC) announced the launch of the anti-dumping (AD) investigation into hot-rolled steel plates imported from Japan and China. This investigation was launched in response to the anti-dumping complaint filed by Hyundai Steel, a major South Korean steel manufacturer, with the KTC in December 2024, claiming that it was suffering damage due to the unfairly cheap imports of hot-rolled steel plates from Japan and China. In the past, there were AD investigations against Japan by South Korea for steel bars and stainless steel, but this is the first time that an AD investigation for ordinary steel plates has been carried out against Japan. With protectionism on the rise in various countries and South Korea’s exports also struggling to grow, the unprecedented AD investigation against Japan is progressing.
