South Korean authorities have taken action to stop the import of counterfeit col-ored steel plates from China. To avoid anti-dumping (AD) duties of up to 38%, Chinese companies disguised ordinary steel plates with anti-rust paint and la-beled them as colored steel plates.

In response to this fraud, South Korea’s government has revised its Customs Act to block such imports. The new rules allow AD duties to be applied even if the products are reprocessed after entering South Korea.

The domestic steel industry has praised the move and is urging the government to apply similar measures to other products, such as stainless steel flat products and H-beams, where similar deceptive practices are suspected.