US Commerce Dept. names Samsung Electronics in cold-rolled steel anti-dumping review

The U.S. Commerce Department has included Samsung Electronics in its list of companies subject to an annual anti-dumping review of Korean cold-rolled steel. As in past reviews, this is an early-stage investigation that broadly lists potential distributors in addition to steel manufacturers.

According to the U.S. Federal Register on Nov. 5, the Commerce Department announced the initiation of an annual anti-dumping review of Korean cold-rolled steel covering the period from Sept. 1, 2025, to Aug. 31, 2026. The list of respondents includes Samsung Electronics, Samsung C&T, and Samsung STS.

Cold-rolled steel is made by rolling hot-rolled steel at room temperature to reduce thickness and smooth the surface, and is widely used in automobile exterior panels, home appliance casings, and construction materials. The Commerce Department conducts annual reviews for products subject to anti-dumping duty orders, recalculating duty rates by comparing actual export prices with normal values each year.

U.S. anti-dumping measures on Korean cold-rolled steel have been in place since 2016. At that time, the Commerce Department determined that Korean cold-rolled steel was being sold in the U.S. market below fair value and imposed duties, and after a first sunset review in 2022, it decided to maintain the duty order. Since then, U.S. petitioners have submitted lists of exporters and distributors suspected of possible dumping to the Commerce Department each year, requesting regular reviews.

In the early stages of a review, the list broadly includes not only direct steel producers but also companies that process or distribute the product. Samsung Electronics does not directly produce steel, but it has been named as a potential exporter involved in the distribution of products or components using cold-rolled steel.

A similar process occurred in the previous review. In the annual review covering exports from September 2023 to August 2024, which concluded with a final determination in July of this year, about 35 of the roughly 40 companies initially listed were excluded from examination because they had no actual exports to the United States.

Samsung Electronics and Samsung C&T were among those excluded at that time, while POSCO and Hyundai Steel, which underwent individual detailed examinations, received a dumping margin of 0%, easing their additional tariff burden. Meanwhile, steel exporters not included in the review remained subject to the existing all-others deposit rate of 20.33%.

In this 2025-2026 annual review, the Commerce Department will also confirm final examination targets after reviewing U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) entry records to verify export activity.

※ This article is an AI translation of the Korean original published by Korea Credit News; it was checked by automated quality guards and published by the English edition desk.