WE HAVE ONE OF THOSE; HAMILTON, ONTARIO
By AFP
February 15, 2025
The city of Pohang is home to South Korea's top steelmaker, POSCO, a major force in the country's industrialisation and development as an export powerhouse
- Copyright AFP
JUNG YEON-JE
Claire LEE
Smoke billows from chimneys as factories churn in South Korea’s steelmaking heartland, now under threat from Washington’s swingeing new tariffs on the port city’s largest export.
The city of Pohang on South Korea’s east coast for decades pumped out the steel that fuelled the country’s breakneck economic rise.
South Korea was the fourth largest exporter of the metal to the United States last year, accounting for 13 percent of its total steel imports.
But the industry has faced intense strain in recent years from foreign competition.
And businesses, officials and workers in the city now fear a planned 25 percent tariff on all steel imports to the United States beginning next month could have devastating impacts — and major knock-on effects on South Korea’s economy.
“The steel industry is a vital national industry that serves as a fundamental material for key sectors such as construction, automotive and shipbuilding,” Pohang’s mayor Lee Kang-deok told AFP.
“If the steel industry collapses, the entire South Korean economy will be destabilised,” Lee warned.
“If we fail to respond effectively to President Trump’s tariff measures, our country’s economy could face an even greater shock, leading to an irreversible situation.”
– ‘Steel city’ –
Lying around 270 kilometres (168 miles) southeast of Seoul, Pohang has carved out a rare place as a key industrial hub in a country beset by deepening regional inequality — and where most resources are tightly concentrated in the capital.
It is home to the nation’s top steelmaker, POSCO, a major force in South Korea’s industrialisation and development as an export powerhouse, alongside giants like Hyundai Steel and Dongkuk Steel.
“Pohang has long been a symbolic steel city that has supported South Korea for decades, serving as a backbone for the country’s development,” said Bang Sung-jun, a former Hyundai Steel worker and an official at the Korean Metal Workers’ Union’s Pohang branch.
“The steel industry has provided quality jobs and sustained the local economy,” he told AFP, while acknowledging the pollution produced and the often dangerous conditions for workers in the industry.
How those workers respond to the current crisis, he added, “will determine whether the city of Pohang can sustain its steel industry, putting its very survival at stake”.
– ‘Significant’ impact –
South Korea’s steel industry has faced intense pressure in recent years as it grapples with oversupply — particularly from China — and a decrease in global demand.
The US tariffs are likely to intensify those challenges, and analysts warn that should cheap Chinese steel barred from the US market begin to flood regions like Southeast Asia and Europe, South Korean steel producers will face deepening price competition.
“Trump’s protectionism certainly will affect South Korea’s long-suffering steel industry, already squeezed by low-price exports from China and unfavourable Japanese yen exchange rate,” Vladimir Tikhonov, professor of Korea studies at the University of Oslo, told AFP.
“The impact will be significant,” he said.
Some suggest the tariffs could offer opportunities for South Korean firms to find new export markets.
But for workers in Pohang, where several mills have already shut down, job security and the threat of further layoffs overshadow any potential benefits.
AFP reporters visited a factory owned by Hyundai Steel which closed late last year. It did not appear to be operating and was guarded by a handful of staff at the time of the visit.
Journalists saw signs hung by unionised workers criticising the management and demanding an apology, and through an open door, what looked like debris piled up inside.
“For us workers, it has always been a crisis without any opportunities,” said Bang, the unionist.
Worker Lee Woo-man, who has worked as a subcontractor for POSCO for two decades, told AFP that 20 of his colleagues have lost their jobs in the past year.
He expected employment in the city to “decrease even more” over the next four years and believes Trump’s tariffs will speed up the decline of the city, which he said has lost the vibrancy it had when he was young.
Lee said he grew up watching the smoke rise from the chimneys of massive mills, thinking to himself: “POSCO is feeding Pohang”.
But now that view makes him worry.
“I don’t know when this will all fall apart.”
Claire LEE
Smoke billows from chimneys as factories churn in South Korea’s steelmaking heartland, now under threat from Washington’s swingeing new tariffs on the port city’s largest export.
The city of Pohang on South Korea’s east coast for decades pumped out the steel that fuelled the country’s breakneck economic rise.
South Korea was the fourth largest exporter of the metal to the United States last year, accounting for 13 percent of its total steel imports.
But the industry has faced intense strain in recent years from foreign competition.
And businesses, officials and workers in the city now fear a planned 25 percent tariff on all steel imports to the United States beginning next month could have devastating impacts — and major knock-on effects on South Korea’s economy.
“The steel industry is a vital national industry that serves as a fundamental material for key sectors such as construction, automotive and shipbuilding,” Pohang’s mayor Lee Kang-deok told AFP.
“If the steel industry collapses, the entire South Korean economy will be destabilised,” Lee warned.
“If we fail to respond effectively to President Trump’s tariff measures, our country’s economy could face an even greater shock, leading to an irreversible situation.”
– ‘Steel city’ –
Lying around 270 kilometres (168 miles) southeast of Seoul, Pohang has carved out a rare place as a key industrial hub in a country beset by deepening regional inequality — and where most resources are tightly concentrated in the capital.
It is home to the nation’s top steelmaker, POSCO, a major force in South Korea’s industrialisation and development as an export powerhouse, alongside giants like Hyundai Steel and Dongkuk Steel.
“Pohang has long been a symbolic steel city that has supported South Korea for decades, serving as a backbone for the country’s development,” said Bang Sung-jun, a former Hyundai Steel worker and an official at the Korean Metal Workers’ Union’s Pohang branch.
“The steel industry has provided quality jobs and sustained the local economy,” he told AFP, while acknowledging the pollution produced and the often dangerous conditions for workers in the industry.
How those workers respond to the current crisis, he added, “will determine whether the city of Pohang can sustain its steel industry, putting its very survival at stake”.
– ‘Significant’ impact –
South Korea’s steel industry has faced intense pressure in recent years as it grapples with oversupply — particularly from China — and a decrease in global demand.
The US tariffs are likely to intensify those challenges, and analysts warn that should cheap Chinese steel barred from the US market begin to flood regions like Southeast Asia and Europe, South Korean steel producers will face deepening price competition.
“Trump’s protectionism certainly will affect South Korea’s long-suffering steel industry, already squeezed by low-price exports from China and unfavourable Japanese yen exchange rate,” Vladimir Tikhonov, professor of Korea studies at the University of Oslo, told AFP.
“The impact will be significant,” he said.
Some suggest the tariffs could offer opportunities for South Korean firms to find new export markets.
But for workers in Pohang, where several mills have already shut down, job security and the threat of further layoffs overshadow any potential benefits.
AFP reporters visited a factory owned by Hyundai Steel which closed late last year. It did not appear to be operating and was guarded by a handful of staff at the time of the visit.
Journalists saw signs hung by unionised workers criticising the management and demanding an apology, and through an open door, what looked like debris piled up inside.
“For us workers, it has always been a crisis without any opportunities,” said Bang, the unionist.
Worker Lee Woo-man, who has worked as a subcontractor for POSCO for two decades, told AFP that 20 of his colleagues have lost their jobs in the past year.
He expected employment in the city to “decrease even more” over the next four years and believes Trump’s tariffs will speed up the decline of the city, which he said has lost the vibrancy it had when he was young.
Lee said he grew up watching the smoke rise from the chimneys of massive mills, thinking to himself: “POSCO is feeding Pohang”.
But now that view makes him worry.
“I don’t know when this will all fall apart.”
Brazil’s Lula threatens ‘reciprocity’ in US steel tariff row
By AFP
February 14, 2025
Brazil is the second-largest exporter of steel to the United States after Canada - Copyright Instagram account @navalny/AFP Handout
Brazil’s President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva on Friday vowed “reciprocity” in response to a 25-percent levy on steel imports announced by US President Donald Trump.
“There is no doubt, there will be reciprocity” from Brazil — the second-largest exporter of steel to the United States after Canada, Lula told Radio Clube do Para.
Brazil sent 4.08 million tonnes of the metal to the United States in 2024.
“If they tax Brazilian steel, we will react commercially or file a complaint with the World Trade Organization or tax the products we import from there,” the leftist leader added.
Brazil imports a large number of steel-based manufactured products from the United States, including industrial machinery, car engines and parts for its aerospace industry.
“Trump can say what he wants, he’s the president of the United States. But he cannot do what he wants because if he does something that has an impact on other countries, there is always a reaction,” said Lula.
Earlier this week, Brazil’s Institutional Relations Minister Alexandre Padilha said the country had no intention of entering into a trade war with the United States, though Lula had earlier vowed that any US tariffs on his country would be met in kind.
– ‘We will charge them’ –
Since taking office, Trump has announced a broad range of tariffs targeting some of America’s biggest trading partners, claiming they would help tackle unfair practices.
He has signed executive orders for 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports starting March 12.
On Thursday, Trump also inked plans for “reciprocal tariffs” that could hit allies and competitors alike, in a dramatic escalation of an international trade war economists warn could fuel inflation at home.
“Whatever countries charge the United States of America, we will charge them,” Trump said.
Lula had previously said he would prefer to “improve our relationship with the United States” rather than battle over tariffs with Brazil’s second-largest trading partner after China.
Trump imposed similar steel tariffs during his first term in office to protect US producers faced with what he complained to be unfair competition.
Brazil was exempted at the time after agreeing to import quotas.
By AFP
February 14, 2025
Brazil is the second-largest exporter of steel to the United States after Canada - Copyright Instagram account @navalny/AFP Handout
Brazil’s President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva on Friday vowed “reciprocity” in response to a 25-percent levy on steel imports announced by US President Donald Trump.
“There is no doubt, there will be reciprocity” from Brazil — the second-largest exporter of steel to the United States after Canada, Lula told Radio Clube do Para.
Brazil sent 4.08 million tonnes of the metal to the United States in 2024.
“If they tax Brazilian steel, we will react commercially or file a complaint with the World Trade Organization or tax the products we import from there,” the leftist leader added.
Brazil imports a large number of steel-based manufactured products from the United States, including industrial machinery, car engines and parts for its aerospace industry.
“Trump can say what he wants, he’s the president of the United States. But he cannot do what he wants because if he does something that has an impact on other countries, there is always a reaction,” said Lula.
Earlier this week, Brazil’s Institutional Relations Minister Alexandre Padilha said the country had no intention of entering into a trade war with the United States, though Lula had earlier vowed that any US tariffs on his country would be met in kind.
– ‘We will charge them’ –
Since taking office, Trump has announced a broad range of tariffs targeting some of America’s biggest trading partners, claiming they would help tackle unfair practices.
He has signed executive orders for 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports starting March 12.
On Thursday, Trump also inked plans for “reciprocal tariffs” that could hit allies and competitors alike, in a dramatic escalation of an international trade war economists warn could fuel inflation at home.
“Whatever countries charge the United States of America, we will charge them,” Trump said.
Lula had previously said he would prefer to “improve our relationship with the United States” rather than battle over tariffs with Brazil’s second-largest trading partner after China.
Trump imposed similar steel tariffs during his first term in office to protect US producers faced with what he complained to be unfair competition.
Brazil was exempted at the time after agreeing to import quotas.
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