The U.S. trade watchdog ruled Thursday that imports of non-oriented electrical steel (NOES) products from South Korea are harming the domestic industry, finalizing 6.89-percent antidumping duties on Korean products.
   
The U.S. International Trade Commission said it has determined in a 4-1 decision that the U.S. industry "is materially injured" by NOES imports from China, Germany, Japan, Korea, Sweden and Taiwan at less than fair value.
  
As a result, the U.S. Department of Commerce will issue countervailing duty orders on imports of this product from China and Taiwan and antidumping duty orders on imports from China, Germany, Japan, Korea, Sweden and Taiwan, it said.
   
NOES products are used in the production of motors and generators. 
   
But officials have said that the U.S. measure could actually help boost South Korea's NOES exports because antidumping duties for Korean products are far lower than those for products from other countries.
  
Last month, the Commerce Department found a preliminary dumping margin of 6.88 percent for South Korean NOES products, while China's PRC Wide Entity has a staggering 407.52 percent dumping margin. German, Swedish and Japanese companies were found to have dumping margins of between 86 and 204 percent. (Yonhap)