Yonhap News Agency reported on February 19 that the Korea Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) Washington Trade Center on the 19th, according to the analysis of the statistics of the US Department of Commerce, said that from January to November last year, South Korea’s exports to the United States fell by 13 %, higher than China's 7.3% and Japan's 0.7%. According to the report, from January to November last year, the total amount of imported steel in the United States was 28.86 million tons, amounting to 27.5 billion US dollars, a decrease of 10.5% over the same period of the previous year, and the amount increased by 1.9% over the same period of the previous year.

Affected by the US tariff policy on imported steel, China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and other countries and regions in the Asia-Pacific region have significantly reduced their exports to the United States. Among them, South Korea’s largest export volume to the United States was 2.43 million tons, a decrease of 24.8% from January to November 2017 and a 13% decrease in terms of amount, making it the most affected country in the Asia-Pacific region. According to the report, although South Korea has obtained export-free export treatment through negotiations, it is subject to quota restrictions, and the number of exports will decrease throughout the year, which may become the biggest victim.

In the same period, the number of steel exported from Japan to the United States decreased by 20.8%, but the amount decreased by only 0.7%; the number of Chinese exports decreased by 13.6%, but the amount decreased by only 7.3%. The decline in steel exports to the United States between China and Japan is not as big as expected. According to the report, the reason why China and Japan's steel exports to the United States fell less than South Korea was mainly due to the high exception rate for exempting tariffs. According to statistics, during the period, China’s 300,000 tons of steel exports to the United States were exempted from tariff exceptions, which accounted for 40% of China’s exports to the United States in 2017; a total of 9,166 of Japan’s exports to the United States were exempted from tariffs. Of the exception applications, 3,480 were approved, amounting to 1.08 million tons, accounting for 62% of Japan's exports to the US in 2017; 2,733 pieces of South Korea's exports to the United States were exempt from tariff exceptions, but only 228 were approved. 10,000 tons, 279 rejected, 2,266 pieces are still under review.