The United States is reportedly imposing higher tariffs on its imports based on a clause in the amended Trade Preferences Extension Act.
 
According to the Korea International Trade Association and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), the United States is applying stiff antidumping duties using adverse facts available (AFA) stipulated in section 776 (b) of the Act, which was revised in June last year.
 
The section stipulates that the United States may calculate and levy higher anti-dumping margins using adverse facts if foreign exporters to the United States accused of dumping charges are considered to have failed to faithfully present relevant data.
 
Since the amendment, the United States applied the AFA section in 108 trade remedy cases including nine on South Korea and slapped tariffs as high as 500 percent on cold-rolled steel from China in June.
 
A KOTRA official advised that South Korean exporters accused of antidumping charges should use extra caution in submitting data.