S. Korea Agrees to Limit Its Steel Exports to U.S.

SEOUL, South Korea —  South Korea has agreed to limit its steel shipments to the United States for five years, retroactive to last Oct. 1, “virtually” completing bilateral talks on self-restraint arrangements, South Korean trade and industry ministry officials said.

The officials said the accord was reached in Washington last week in the third round of negotiations in which the two sides also agreed to classify into six categories the Korean steel products to be covered by the arrangements. Korea had wanted to limit shipments for only one year.

The officials, who declined to be identified, said they did not think any further talks would be necessary since the duration of restraints and the number of categories had been the only remaining major obstacle.

Korea had already agreed in a previous session to limit its annual steel shipments to 1.9% of the U.S. market, a couple of percentage points lower than previous levels.

The ministry officials said Korean steel exports to the U.S. market are expected to drop to about 2 million tons this year, compared to 2.4 million tons last year.