Why Trump’s steel tariffs could break economic backbone of South Korea
Pohang, once a symbol of the country’s breakneck growth, faces a bleak future as US levies threaten the steel hub
The city of Pohang on South Korea’s east coast for decades pumped out the steel that fuelled the country’s breakneck economic rise.
South Korea was the fourth-largest exporter of the metal to the United States last year, accounting for 13 per cent of its total steel imports.
But the industry has faced intense strain in recent years from foreign competition.
And businesses, officials and workers in the city now fear a planned 25 per cent tariff on all steel imports to the US beginning next month could have devastating impacts – and major knock-on effects on South Korea’s economy.
“The steel industry is a vital national industry that serves as a fundamental material for key sectors such as construction, automotive and shipbuilding,” Pohang’s mayor Lee Kang-deok said.