By Choi Sung-jin
The United States and China are increasingly resorting to various protectionist steps to curb imports from Korea, forcing government and business officials in the nation to come up with swift countermeasures.
According to a report released by Hyundai Research Institute Sunday, the number of market-protecting measures taken by the U.S. administration from 2009-2016 totaled 2,797, an 8.7 percent increase from 2,573 in the 2000-2008 period.
The comparable figure for China more than doubled, from 814 to 1,675.
Specifically, the world's largest and second-largest economies made the most of TBT (technical barriers to trade) and SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary measures) accords, which accounted for 90 percent of market-protecting steps together. In the case of China, TBT and SPS measures rocketed 150 percent and 356 percent, respectively.
The G2 countries have taken TBT measures particularly frequently in blocking the imports of electric and electronic products since 2008. In the 2009-2016 period, the largest share of the U.S. administration's notification of TBT steps was on electric-electronic products (24 percent), followed by food and drugs (18.5 percent) and automobiles (15.1 percent). The comparable shares in China's case were electric-electronics (15.9 percent), machinery (14.5 percent) and automobiles (13.4 percent).
Both countries concentrated their notices of SPS steps on food and medicine.
The accumulated numbers of SPS notices on food and medicine imports stood at 1,319 from the U.S. and 862 from China, accounting for 98 percent and 90.3 percent of their respective totals, in the last eight years.
Among other trade protectionist measures, the U.S. focused its antidumping tariffs on iron and steel products exported by Korea, while China tghtened import regulations on Korean chemical exports.
As of Aug. 31, the U.S. has taken 23 antidumping steps against Korea, about 75 percent of which were against the latter's steel and steel products. During the same period, China has taken 11 antidumping measures against Korean exports, 55 percent of which were against chemical exports.
The U.S. mainly rejected the entry of Korean pharmaceutical products and medical equipment while China's rejections of entry were concentrated in processed food from Korea, the report said.
"In the case of the U.S., the increasing antidumping steps is the result of revived protectionism in the country while those in China reflect the arbitrary process by working-group officials because of inadequate establishment of related institutions and systems," said Han Jae-jin, a researcher at the think tank.
Stressing that Korea needed a control system to meet the quality standards as required by international community, Han said, "To cope with trade protectionism in the medium to long run, Korean businesses will have to not only file complaints with the WTO and bilateral free trade agreements but also offer their opinions with respect to establishing global standards."
The United States and China are increasingly resorting to various protectionist steps to curb imports from Korea, forcing government and business officials in the nation to come up with swift countermeasures.
According to a report released by Hyundai Research Institute Sunday, the number of market-protecting measures taken by the U.S. administration from 2009-2016 totaled 2,797, an 8.7 percent increase from 2,573 in the 2000-2008 period.
The comparable figure for China more than doubled, from 814 to 1,675.
Specifically, the world's largest and second-largest economies made the most of TBT (technical barriers to trade) and SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary measures) accords, which accounted for 90 percent of market-protecting steps together. In the case of China, TBT and SPS measures rocketed 150 percent and 356 percent, respectively.
The G2 countries have taken TBT measures particularly frequently in blocking the imports of electric and electronic products since 2008. In the 2009-2016 period, the largest share of the U.S. administration's notification of TBT steps was on electric-electronic products (24 percent), followed by food and drugs (18.5 percent) and automobiles (15.1 percent). The comparable shares in China's case were electric-electronics (15.9 percent), machinery (14.5 percent) and automobiles (13.4 percent).
Both countries concentrated their notices of SPS steps on food and medicine.
The accumulated numbers of SPS notices on food and medicine imports stood at 1,319 from the U.S. and 862 from China, accounting for 98 percent and 90.3 percent of their respective totals, in the last eight years.
Among other trade protectionist measures, the U.S. focused its antidumping tariffs on iron and steel products exported by Korea, while China tghtened import regulations on Korean chemical exports.
As of Aug. 31, the U.S. has taken 23 antidumping steps against Korea, about 75 percent of which were against the latter's steel and steel products. During the same period, China has taken 11 antidumping measures against Korean exports, 55 percent of which were against chemical exports.
The U.S. mainly rejected the entry of Korean pharmaceutical products and medical equipment while China's rejections of entry were concentrated in processed food from Korea, the report said.
"In the case of the U.S., the increasing antidumping steps is the result of revived protectionism in the country while those in China reflect the arbitrary process by working-group officials because of inadequate establishment of related institutions and systems," said Han Jae-jin, a researcher at the think tank.
Stressing that Korea needed a control system to meet the quality standards as required by international community, Han said, "To cope with trade protectionism in the medium to long run, Korean businesses will have to not only file complaints with the WTO and bilateral free trade agreements but also offer their opinions with respect to establishing global standards."
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