Korea faces 40 import restrictions from US in Feb.

Korea faced far more import restrictions from the United States than any other country in February amid Washington's growing trade pressure on its ally, a trade body said Wednesday.

Asia's fourth-largest economy was subject to 196 import regulations from the rest of the world as of Monday, with the US accounting for 40 of them, the highest number, according to the Korea International Trade Association.

Of the American restrictions, 30 cases were anti-dumping investigations, eight were countervailing duties, and two were safeguards.

The US launched a probe into two cases in January, but there were no new investigations into Korean products.

By product, import restrictions on steel and metals were the highest at 28, followed by electrical and electronics with five. The remainder were in place for chemicals and textile products.

KITA attributed the high US restrictions to the similarity between Korean and Chinese industrial structures, saying Korean products are exposed to US regulations targeting mainly the world's second-largest economy.

"In most cases, Washington imposes anti-dumping and countervailing tariffs following petitions from private companies," the trade association said. "There has been a recent rise in petitions from firms competing with Korean businesses."

India had the second-most import restrictions (29) on Korean goods in place, trailed by China with 15 and Turkey with 14, according to KITA.(Yonhap)