Japan imposes provisional anti-dumping duty on hot-dip galvanized steel strips/sheets from South Korea and China

Mechanism

Japan's domestic steel industry petitioned for anti-dumping relief; METI and MOF opened a joint investigation in August 2025 (per the October 2025 Customs and Foreign Exchange Council record). The Customs Tariff Council issued a provisional affirmative determination on August 4, 2026 finding dumped imports and material injury to the domestic industry. MOF promulgated Cabinet Order No. 254 (令和8年政令第254号) on August 7, 2026, with the provisional duty effective August 8 through December 7, 2026, pending the final determination. Hong Kong and Macau are explicitly carved out of the China scope. Company-specific or residual duty rate percentages were not disclosed in any source found during research — Japan's customs notices for this measure reference a Ministry of Finance Notification (令和8年財務省告示第 220号) and Customs Bureau Notice (財関第910号) that were not accessible during filing; severity_basis is left qual rather than fabricating a rate.

Downstream implications

• Adds to a growing 2026 cluster of galvanized/zinc-coated steel

anti-dumping actions against China (Malaysia 2025-11-01, Brazil 2026-02-13, Korea 2026-04-16 against China, Türkiye 2026-06-16) — China's galvanized steel export capacity is facing near-simultaneous trade-remedy action across multiple markets.

• Notably targets South Korea as well as China, unusual among this cluster

of measures which are typically China-only.

Open questions

• Exact ad-valorem duty rate(s) by exporter — needs a follow-up pass once

the MOF Notification No. 220/2026 or Customs Bureau Notice No. 910 text is reachable (amend this file with magnitude: tariff_pct when found).

• Whether the final determination (due before Dec 7, 2026) confirms or

revises the provisional rate.