Seoul: South Korea's trade watchdog announced on Thursday its decision to impose antidumping tariffs of up to 19.85 percent on industrial robots imported from Japan and China. This action is in response to concerns about damage to the domestic industry.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Korea Trade Commission (KTC) will recommend antidumping duties to the finance minister. These duties will range from 17.45 to 18.64 percent for Japanese products and 15.96 to 19.85 percent for Chinese products. The decision follows a petition filed in March 2025 by HD Hyundai Robotics Co., which claimed that companies such as Japan's Fanuc Corp. and Yaskawa Electric Corp., along with China-based Kuka Robotics Guangdong Co., ABB Engineering Shanghai Ltd. and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., were selling vertically articulated industrial robots in South Korea at unfairly low prices. Since November, provisional antidumping duties of 21.17 to 43.6 percent have been in place for these products.
The KTC has been conducting an investigation since May, which included overseas on-site inspections and visits to domestic demand industries. A KTC official explained that the level of antidumping duties was determined based on these findings. The industrial robots are utilized in various applications, including automobile body assembly and welding, logistics packaging, metal cutting and drilling, and chemical mixing.
The commission also announced the initiation of four new investigations during Thursday's meeting. These include a review of intermediate materials for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) from China and a case involving alleged unfair trade practices related to patent infringement in electric vehicle lithium-ion batteries. For Chinese PET products, antidumping duties of 7 to 7.98 percent have been in effect since November 2024. However, domestic firms have requested a review due to increased imports and changing market conditions.
Additionally, the KTC conducted a public hearing regarding the impact of PVC paste resin imports from Germany, France, Norway, and Sweden on the domestic industry, as mentioned by the officials.