South Korea's Ministry of Trade said that Russia and four other Eurasian countries have decided to impose a 20% tariff on the imports of hot-rolled steel products exceeding 1.33 million tons annually from December.

 According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of Seoul, the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), composed of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, also decided that the new import protection policy would not include Korean coatings and cold rolled steel.

 South Korean steelmakers find it difficult to export automotive steel to Russia because coatings and cold-rolled steel are not covered by the new Eurasian Union import protection policy, a South Korean government official said. But the official predicted that South Korean exports would not be affected much, as South Korean steel producers could still export hot-rolled steel products to the Eurasian Union by controlling exports below tariff quotas, i.e. 1.33 million tons (average imports in 2015-2017).