[Market Focus] SeAH Steel Falls Over 6% as Trump Announces 50% Tariff on Steel Imports

As the Donald Trump administration in the United States announced plans to raise tariffs on imported steel and aluminum to as much as 50%, related stocks in the domestic stock market showed a broad decline on the morning of June 2.

As of 9:55 a.m. on this day, SeAH Steel Holdings was trading at 158,300 won per share, down 6.33% from the previous session. SeAH Besteel Holdings also fell by 2.56%. Major steelmakers such as POSCO Holdings (-2.80%) and Hyundai Steel (-3.37%) also posted declines. Dongkuk Steel dropped 3.83%, and KG Steel fell 5.21%.

This is the aftermath of President Trump’s announcement over the weekend at the US Steel plant in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that he would raise tariffs on imported steel to 50%. Immediately after, President Trump reaffirmed on Truth Social that the steel and aluminum tariffs would take effect starting June 4.

As a result, concerns that domestic steelmakers with a high proportion of exports to the US could be hit hard have led to selling pressure in the market. According to the US Department of Commerce, last year Korea exported $2.9 billion worth of steel to the United States. This is the fourth largest amount after Canada ($7.14 billion), Mexico ($3.5 billion), and Brazil ($2.99 billion).

Park Seongbong, a researcher at Hana Securities, stated, "Currently, exports of Korean steel to the US are subject to a 25% tariff instead of a quota system. If the tariff is ultimately raised to 50%, the price competitiveness of domestic steel products will decline compared to US companies, inevitably causing disruptions to exports to the US."

According to Hana Securities, the proportion of US sales in the total revenue of five domestic steel companies is as follows: POSCO 2%, Hyundai Steel 3-4%, SeAH Besteel Holdings 3-3.5%, Dongkuk Steel 1%, and SeAH Steel Holdings 30%. Park added, "As the US strengthens steel import regulations, it is highly likely that the European Union (EU) will also announce measures to tighten import regulations, so there are also concerns about disruptions to exports to Europe."

Lee Jungwoo, a researcher at Daol Investment & Securities, commented, "In the case of Hyundai Steel, US export exposure is less than 5%, and its portfolio is focused on automotive steel sheets, which allows for differentiated profitability. For other steelmakers, the impact will depend on the extent to which US steel distribution prices rise." Kim Ilhyuk, a researcher at KB Securities, pointed out, "This tariff decision reflects President Trump's anxiety about maintaining bargaining power over tariffs."