South Korea
USA trade laneSouth Korea is one of the largest sources of US steel imports — flat-rolled coil and sheet, plate, pipe and tube, and fittings — from integrated mills, electric-furnace producers and the pipe makers around them. Busan is the main container gateway, and Gwangyang, beside POSCO's Gwangyang steelworks, calls on some trans-Pacific rotations. Korean shipments of long products and pipe to the US rose sharply in 2026, and in September US steelmakers asked Washington for a Korea-specific quota and an investigation; nothing has been decided, but it is a reason to keep contracts flexible.
Steel is one of the most heavily policed imports into the United States. Section 232 has been charged on the full value of steel products since April 2026, and since Korea's quota ended in 2025 there is no country arrangement for Korean steel; antidumping and countervailing duty orders cover most Korean flat-rolled steel and many pipe products on top. So the duty, not the freight, decides whether a Korean steel deal works. We check the product against the orders and the producer's deposit rate before you sign. Our WCA partner agents in South Korea collect, pack and load — AGF has no office there — our licensed customs brokers file the entry with the steel licence, melt-and-pour data and deposits, and our drayage and trucking partners handle heavy-container delivery from the port.
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Shipping Steel Products from South Korea to USA
Weight, not volume, sets the load. A 20ft container can carry up to roughly 28 tonnes at sea, but the US limit of 80,000 lb gross for the whole truck — tractor, chassis and container included — usually caps a normally trucked 20ft box at about 17–20 tonnes (38,000–44,000 lb) of cargo, depending on the chassis and the state. Heavier boxes need tri-axle chassis, overweight permits on designated corridors, or rail. A 40ft container carries no more weight on US roads than a 20ft one, so most steel ships in 20ft boxes, with 40ft boxes kept for long lengths, and we plan the tonnes per container against the delivery route before booking.
Coil, plate and pipe each load differently. Coils travel eye-to-side on timber cradles or steel saddles, blocked and lashed to the container's lashing points; carriers limit the weight on each metre of floor, so a heavy coil needs a long bed or a flat rack. Plate and long pipe suit flat racks, open tops or 40ft boxes. Mill-scale tonnage of coil and plate usually moves breakbulk, a market of its own; containers and flat racks suit smaller lots, mixed orders, pipe, fittings and deliveries inland, and that is the trade this guide covers. Rust is the classic claim, so steel goes in VCI wrap with desiccant and dry, heat-treated dunnage, in a sound and dry container. From Busan, a direct sailing reaches Los Angeles or Long Beach in roughly two weeks; New York takes about four to five weeks, and Houston — the largest steel port complex in North America by its own description — is confirmed per sailing.
- 20ft containers fill by weight: up to about 28 tonnes at sea, often 17–20 tonnes for normal US road delivery
- Coils eye-to-side on cradles or saddles, blocked and lashed; heavy coils need long bedding or flat racks
- Plate and long pipe on flat racks, open tops or 40ft boxes; full mill orders usually go breakbulk
- Rust protection: VCI wrap, desiccant and dry ISPM 15 dunnage in an inspected container
- Mill test certificates travel with the documents — they carry the melt-and-pour evidence
What Drives the Cost
- Section 232 on the full value of the steel, with no country arrangement for Korea
- Antidumping and countervailing duty deposits, set by product and producer — and the risk of a higher final rate in a later review
- Tonnes per container: road-weight limits, tri-axle chassis, overweight permits or rail
- Packing and securing: cradles, lashing, VCI and desiccant, flat racks for plate and long pipe
- Devanning heavy cargo with equipment rated for coils, and demurrage if documents are late
- A larger customs bond: CBP sizes a continuous bond on the duties you paid in the past year
HS Codes and Duty Notes
Classification guidance only — duty rates change and depend on your exact product. Our licensed customs brokers verify every code before you commit to an order.
| HS Code | Products | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 7208–7212 | Flat-rolled carbon and alloy steel — hot-rolled, cold-rolled, galvanized and other coated coil and sheet | Section 232 on full value. Korean hot-rolled, cold-rolled and corrosion-resistant steel are under antidumping and, for some, countervailing duty orders. The scope is set by the order's written description, not the HS code, so a product can be covered under a heading you did not expect; our licensed customs brokers check it before you buy. |
| 7208.51 / 7208.52 / 7225.40 | Cut-to-length plate, carbon and alloy | Section 232 on full value, plus two families of antidumping and countervailing duty orders on Korean plate. Deposit rates differ by producer and are reset in annual reviews; verified at quoting. |
| 7225–7226 | Flat-rolled alloy steel, including non-oriented electrical steel for motors and transformers | Section 232 on full value. The antidumping and countervailing duty orders on Korean non-oriented electrical steel were continued in 2026. |
| 7304–7306 | Tubes and pipes — oil country tubular goods, line pipe, standard pipe, large-diameter welded pipe, seamless pipe | Section 232 on full value, a steel import licence for each entry, and antidumping orders on Korean oil country tubular goods, welded line pipe, large-diameter welded pipe and circular welded pipe; the seamless pipe orders were in a five-year review in 2026. |
| 7307 / 7317 | Forged steel fittings; steel nails | Section 232 on full value. Korean forged steel fittings and steel nails are both under antidumping orders, each in a five-year review in 2026. |
Regulations and Compliance
Section 232: full value, no arrangement for Korea
Since 6 April 2026 the Section 232 steel tariff has been charged on the full customs value of the product, not on its steel content. Steel mill products and most steel articles sit in the top tier, Annex I-A, and some derivative goods in a lower tier; a product covered by more than one metals action pays only once. Korea's 2018 quota ended in 2025, and the reduced rate Korea and other partners received in June 2026 covers certain machinery and equipment, not steel mill products. KORUS does not reduce Section 232. Steel under Section 232 is outside the Section 301 tariff on Korean goods, so the two do not stack. Rates and annex placement change, so we verify them at quoting.
Antidumping and countervailing duties on Korean steel
Orders cover Korean hot-rolled, cold-rolled and corrosion-resistant flat steel, cut-to-length plate, non-oriented electrical steel, oil country tubular goods, line pipe, large-diameter and circular welded pipe, forged steel fittings and steel nails. Deposit rates are set for each producer, and the deposit paid at entry is only an estimate: Commerce sets the final rate in annual reviews, sometimes years later, and CBP bills any increase with interest. Before liquidation the importer files a certificate that the exporter is not reimbursing the duty. Coverage follows the order's written scope, and Commerce has applied China's orders to steel that was only coated or cold-rolled in a third country from Chinese substrate — so we ask where the substrate came from.
Melt-and-pour reporting and mill test certificates
Every steel entry reports the country where the steel was melted and poured — where the raw steel was first melted in a furnace and cast into its first solid shape — and derivative products report the melt country too. That can differ from the country where the steel was rolled or finished, and the mill test certificate is where the evidence lives. Ask the mill for certificates that show the heat number and the melt location, and keep them with the entry.
Steel import licence (SIMA)
Steel mill products need a Commerce Department steel import licence for each entry, obtained before the entry summary is filed, and the licence application asks for the country of melt and pour. Our licensed customs brokers apply for it with the entry; a missing licence holds the entry summary.
Forced labor: steel is a UFLPA priority sector
In August 2025 steel became a high-priority sector for Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act enforcement. The question is where the steel was melted: pipe, fittings and coated products made from purchased coil or slab need a record of where that input was melted, not just where the finished product was made. Keep the mill certificates and purchase records for the input, not just the finished product.
US road weight limits and overweight permits
The federal limit is 80,000 lb gross for the whole truck, with separate axle limits, and a dense 20ft box can break an axle limit while still legal on gross weight. States issue overweight permits, often only for designated corridors near the ports, and a permit for a short port move does not make a box legal for a long inland trip. We plan the tonnes per container, the chassis and any transload to flatbeds before the cargo sails.
What is still open
US steel producers asked in September 2026 for a Korea-specific quota and an investigation into rising Korean imports, and a separate Section 301 investigation into excess capacity that includes Korea is still open. Either could change the terms of a long-term contract, so build in a review clause and confirm the duty position before each order.
Door-to-Door Import Service
Before you buy, send us the product description, the producer and the order quantity: our licensed customs brokers check it against the antidumping and countervailing duty orders and the Section 232 annexes, look up the producer's deposit rate, and confirm the bond is large enough.
We plan tonnes per container against the US delivery route, and our WCA partner agent in South Korea arranges collection from the mill or service center, rust protection, securing on cradles or flat racks, and loading at Busan or Gwangyang, with the export declaration in UNI-PASS.
We file the ISF at least 24 hours before loading and collect the mill test certificates showing heat numbers and the melt-and-pour country.
A direct sailing reaches Los Angeles or Long Beach in roughly two weeks; New York, Houston and other ports are confirmed per sailing.
Our licensed customs brokers obtain the steel import licence and file the entry with the melt-and-pour data, the Section 232 duty and the antidumping and countervailing duty deposits, and file the non-reimbursement certificate.
Partner truckers deliver on tri-axle chassis or under permit to your yard, or to a facility with equipment rated for coils and plate; we keep the entry records for the later reviews that set the final duty.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the tariff on steel imported from South Korea?
Is Korean steel subject to antidumping duties?
How much steel can you put in a 20ft container?
What does melt and pour mean for steel imports?
Should steel coils ship in containers or breakbulk?
Does KORUS make steel from Korea duty-free?
Steel Products is just one example. AGF ships whatever your business moves — on this lane and beyond. If your commodity isn't covered by one of our guides, tell us what you ship and we'll build the logistics around it.
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