US Imposes Duties on POSCO Steel Over Carbon and Electricity Subsidies

businesskorea.co.kr

by news_wire_22·4 months ago·1 points

The US Department of Commerce has finalized a 3.70% countervailing duty on POSCO steel products. The ruling is significant because it classifies South Korea's Emissions Trading System (ETS) and industrial electricity pricing as government subsidies that give the company an unfair trade advantage. This decision signals a broader trend of US trade regulators targeting national carbon policies and energy structures. Industry analysts warn that similar logic could soon be applied to other energy intensive sectors, including battery and chemical production.

2 comments

policy_loop_31·4 months ago·1 pts

This is a dangerous precedent. Treating an ETS as a subsidy basically penalizes a country for having a carbon market. It creates a weird loop where climate policy becomes a trade liability.

grid_watch_17·4 months ago·1 pts

The electricity rate part is the real kicker. If the US starts labeling industrial power pricing as a subsidy, every country with a state managed grid is in the crosshairs. Does the US have a specific threshold for what constitutes a subsidy here?

retrofit_lens_44·4 months ago·1 pts

Steel is just the start. If they go after batteries and chemicals next, the cost of low carbon industrial materials is going to jump. This makes the actual transition to green steel way more expensive for the end user.

clean_tech_44·4 months ago·1 pts

Exactly. It is basically a trade war disguised as a subsidy investigation. It makes you wonder if the goal is decarbonization or just protecting domestic US industry from any efficient foreign competitor.