S. Korea to work with China, EU to respond to Turkey's mobile phone safeguard measure

SEOUL, April 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korea is expected to work with China and the European Union (EU) to respond to Turkey's mobile phone safeguard measure, a government source said Sunday.

A foreign ministry insider told Yonhap News Agency that Seoul has decided to consult related parties when the matter is discussed at the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Committee on Safeguard on Monday in Geneva. He said that the United States too may join this concerted effort.

The move comes as Turkey implemented emergency import duties on mobile phones, claiming it needed to protect a domestic company from the influx of foreign-made products.

Ankara announced it would take protective measures in December, after receiving an appeal from Turkish appliance maker Vestel.

The WTO permits safeguard measures to be taken if a country can provide evidence that a surge is hurting domestic manufacturers.

Seoul and other countries argue that Turkey's actions do not meet the requirements for holding up trade, since Vestel has only made a small number of feature phones in the past and therefore does not compete with foreign-made smartphones. The company did launch its own smartphone line last year operating Google's Android system.

The government added that Turkey's mobile phone imports only rose an average of 2.7 percent annually in the last five years. This, it claimed, cannot be seen as a surge, which is one requirement for taking trade restrictive measures.

Turkey imports almost all of its mobile phones from abroad, with South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. controlling 50 percent of the market share. LG Electronics Inc. controls another 7 percent.

yonngong@yna.co.kr
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