South Korea needs to consider a complaint to WTO over U.S. protectionism - steel company official

By Hyunjoo Jin and Jane Chung

SEOUL (Reuters) - The South Korean government and steel industry should consider all measures including filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) in response to "deepening U.S. trade protectionism," a steel company official told Reuters.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday launched a trade probe against China and other exporters of cheap steel into the U.S. market, raising the possibility of new tariffs.

The United States has already slapped a series of anti-dumping duties on steel imports from South Korea and other countries. South Korea's steel association said the United States is the second-biggest market after China for South Korean steel products, and accounted for about 12 percent of the country's total exports of the metal in 2016.

A senior official at South Korea's trade ministry said the government is considering its response to the U.S. move.

"We are open to all possible options including filing a complaint with WTO but nothing has been decided. We will decide after listening to opinions of the Korean steel industry," the official said.

The ministry official and the company official asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.

A spokeswoman for the trade ministry said it has not made an official public response on the trade issue.

POSCO shares were up 2.7 percent and Hyundai Steel stocks were up 1.3 percent in the wider market that climbed 0.9 percent as of 0520 GMT.

"Rising trade protectionism is negative to the steel industry overall, but the industry has been recovering, helping cushion the negative impact," said Will Byun, an analyst at NH Investment & Securities.

POSCO said on Tuesday that its first-quarter operating profit more than doubled, beating its estimate on solid demand from China.

(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Jane Chung; Editing by Tom Hogue)