Abstract
As Korea's steel industry exports 38 percent of its total steel production, the future management environment of the steel industry will change depending on the outcome of the FTA negotiations. The overall industrial structure of the domestic steel industry depends on the rules of origin, which are directly linked to the effect of concessionary tariffs. Therefore, negotiations on rules of origin are as important as tariff liberalization for Korea's steel industry. Korea's cold-rolled and plated companies are expected to be negatively affected as the country of origin standards of steel products have not considered the steel production processes in Korea. In future FTA talks, the country of origin rules should be agreed on a change of tariff classification basis. This result would secure a stable export market through increased predictability of steelmakers and reduce the risk of increased costs of oil and intangible products. In addition, the government should consider the structure of domestic supply and demand so that it does not impose constraints on the change of tariff classification. Finally, participants in the negotiations should consider the opinions of the domestic steel industry.