Stacks of rebar are seen at a steel plant in Incheon, March 11. Yonhap

Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun / Yonhap

Seoul will come up with a response strategy before the end of this month to deal with the United States' 25 percent tariff on all steel imports and protect the Korean steel industry, the industry minister said Thursday.

Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun offered the timeline at a meeting with officials from major steelmakers, including POSCO Group and Hyundai Steel, saying the government will "sternly respond to any attempts of unfair trade activities" expected to rise amid the global expansion of trade protectionism.

"Not only the United States but other major economies, like India and the European Union, are also raising trade barriers in the steel industry," he said.

"To respond to such a trend, the government is working to bolster trade safeguard measures, including strengthening monitoring on imported goods and circumvention dumping of unfairly imported products," he added.

The industry ministry recently decided to expand the Korea Trade Commission and create two new departments on dumping investigations.

The Donald Trump administration imposed 25 percent duties on all steel imports, including those from Korea, starting Wednesday.

The Trump administration also levied tariffs on 87 steel and aluminum derivative products, and lifted duty-free quotas for steel imports from Korea and other countries.

In 2018, the first Trump administration had waived tariffs on Korean steel products in exchange for a yearly import quota of 2.63 million tons, which accounted for around 70 percent of Korea's average export volume between 2015 and 2017.

In the meeting, Ahn told the steel companies the government will work to enhance support measures for the industry and put in all-out efforts to negotiate with the U.S. on the matter.

Trade Minister Cheong In-kyo is currently on a visit to Washington to meet with officials from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and other government agencies to continue Seoul's tariff negotiations with the U.S.

"I ask the companies to consider heightened uncertainties as a constant variable and proactively review investment and export strategies focused on high-value products," Ahn said. (Yonhap)