The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has launched an anti-dumping investigation into imports of Korean automotive batteries to look into whether their prices were set below fair market prices, a Seoul-based trade promotion agency said Wednesday.
The GCC of six Gulf Arab states has been investigating since Dec. 31 after Middle East Battery Company of Saudi Arabia accused Korean companies of setting the prices of lead-acid battery for vehicles below the level sold in the domestic market, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) said.
The member countries of the GCC are Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
If the GCC imposes a tariff on Korean goods after the probe, it could deal a blow to Korean manufacturers because Middle East is a major export destination following Asia, Europe and North America.
GCC nations imported US$367.94 million worth of car batteries in 2013, and the amount rose to $393.39 million in 2014.
Korean car batteries account for 18.7 percent and 8.1 percent of the market share in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, respectively, the KOTRA said. (Yonhap)
