S. Korean losses caused by trade restrictions top US$809 mln: report

SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korean losses caused by foreign trade restrictive measures such as anti-dumping and countervailing duties reached US$809 million in 2008, a report by a local accounting firm said Tuesday.

Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers said the total is equal to 0.1 percent of the gross
domestic product (GDP) and roughly 0.2 percent of the country's total export
volume for the cited year.
The local affiliate of the world's largest accounting company said losses caused
by punitive duties reached $343 million for electronics, while losses in the
steel and chemical industries reached $109 million and $181 million,
respectively.
The report said that while local companies were slapped with just seven
anti-dumping and countervailing duties in the electronics sector, losses incurred
reached around $43 million per case, or 6.3 times the overall average.
It said most of the losses were due to restrictive measures taken by Japan and
the United States.
Japan accounted for 37.0 percent of all losses, with the United States making up
23.0 percent.
Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers, which was asked by the Ministry of Knowledge
Economy to conduct the survey, said the findings could be used to plot strategies
so local businesses can circumvent trade restrictions in the future.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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