Seoul: South Korea's trade watchdog decided Thursday to impose anti-dumping tariffs on cold-rolled stainless steel products from two Vietnamese companies, according to Seoul's industry ministry. The Korea Trade Commission (KTC) made a final decision to recommend the finance ministry levy 18.81 percent duties on stainless steel products imported from Vietnam's Yongjin Metal Technology Co. and 11.37 percent tariffs on those from TVL Joint Stock Co. over the next five years, it said.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the decision came after South Korean steel giant POSCO Holdings Inc. filed a complaint against the Vietnamese companies with the KTC a year ago. The KTC concluded that the dumping of Vietnamese steel products has caused "substantial" damage to the local steel industry.

On Thursday, the KTC also recommended the finance ministry to levy provisional anti-dumping tariffs of up to 33.97 percent on Chinese sodium dithionite products following a preliminary investigation. In addition, the trade watchdog proposed provisional anti-dumping tariffs of up to 17.19 percent on particle board imports from Thailand, according to the ministry.