Customs Act
The Customs Act provides statutory authority for a range of tariffs and customs duty related regulations. The Customs Act sets the baseline tariff rates as applied to goods imported into Korea, except for imports from nations with which Korea has signed free trade agreements. Baseline tariff rates for countries which Korea has signed free trade agreement with are set by the provisions of those Agreements.
However, the Act also provides statutory authority for the Ministry of Economy and Finance to introduce special tariff measures (e.g., anti-dumping duties, countervailing duties, and retaliatory duties) for the protection of domestic industry. These measures can be applied notwithstanding any free trade agreements signed by Korea.
Two specific causes of action for special tariff measures are provided with in the Act:
- In the case where domestic industry faces real harms or may face real harm
- In the case where the development of domestic industry is delayed
Current measures in effect include anti-dumping tariffs on:
- Vietnamese and Indian ferrosilicon manganese (introduced July 21, 2023; imposed until July 21, 2028): HS Code 7202.30
- Chinese and Vietnamese seamless copper pipes (introduced March 2, 2023; imposed until March 2, 2028): HS Code 7411.10
- Chinese and Indonesian stainless steel flat-rolled products (introduced September 15, 2021; imposed until September 15, 2024): under HS Codes 7219 and 7220.
- Italian and Taiwanese stainless steel bars (introduced May 16, 2019; imposed until May 16, 2024): HS codes 7222.11, 7222.19, 7222.20, 7222.30.
- Chinese H-beam steel (introduced March 3, 2021; imposed until March 3, 2026): HS Codes 7216.33.3, 7216.33.4, 7216.33.5, 7228.70.1010, 7228.70.1090.
Want to know more about this policy ? Learn more (Korean)