S.Korea's business sentiment worsens for 2 months over U.S. protectionist moves

SEOUL, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Sentiment among South Korean businesses over economic conditions worsened for two months as the United States showed trade protectionist moves on South Korean products, central bank data showed Wednesday.

The business sentiment index (BSI) came in at 77 in February, down 1 point from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The downward trend continued after falling 3 points in January.

The continued fall came as the U.S. commerce ministry announced plans earlier this month to impose high import tariffs on steel and aluminum products from several countries, including South Korea.

The U.S. administration decided on Jan. 23 to slap safeguards against washing machines and solar cell imports from countries, including South Korea, by levying high import tariffs on them.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in ordered resolute measures against U.S. protectionist moves in bilateral trade.

The BSI among manufacturers declined 2 points over the month to 75 in February, posting the lowest since January last year. The index among exporters shed 2 points, while the one for non-exporting companies being unchanged compared with the previous month.

The BSI among non-manufacturers dipped 1 point over the month to 80 in February. Non-manufacturers selected weak domestic demand as the biggest difficulty in doing business. Enditem