Anchor: The U.S. already imposes the highest number of import restrictions on South Korea than any other country, but is expected to ramp up trade regulations even further this year, according to the Korea International Trade Association.
Our Bae Joo-yon has the details. 

Report: A new report finds that South Korea faces far more import restrictions from the U.S. than any other country. 

According to a monthly report by the Korea International Trade Association(KITA) on Tuesday, South Korea was subject to 196 import regulations from other countries as of Monday. Out of that total, 40 were from the U.S. 
 
Of the total American restrictions, 30 were anti-dumping investigations, while eight were countervailing duties and two were safeguards. Probes were launched on two cases last month. 

By product, import restrictions on steel and metals took up the largest proportion at 28, followed by electrical and electronics with five. The remainder was for chemicals and textile products.

The association attributed the large number of U.S. import restrictions to similarities between South Korea's industrial structure and China’s. This means that in many cases, South Korea is exposed to restrictions in the process of the U.S. targeting China. 

KITA said the U.S.’ anti-dumping and countervailing measures are mostly taken after private companies file suits, adding that a growing number of U.S. firms that compete with South Korean companies are filing suits. 

The association said that the U.S. is likely to tighten regulations and widen its scope of targets as the Trump administration is expected to continue its trade protectionism this year.

The association's report also found that South Korea was subject to 29 import regulations from India and 14 each from China and Turkey. 
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.