Japan's March steel exports to U.S. slump 38 percent - federation

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's steel exports to the United States dipped 38.2 percent in March from a year earlier due to a sharp slide in export of semi-finished products, the Japan Iron and Steel Federation said on Friday.

Its overall steel exports dropped 2.5 percent, the federation said.

The decline comes as the United States imposed 25 percent import duties on steel last month. The U.S. government provided a temporary exemption until May 1 for the European Union and six other nations, but not Japan.

Steel exports to the United States slipped 14.5 percent in the financial year ended March 31 from a year earlier to 1.78 million tonnes, their lowest in seven years, the federation said.

Overall steel exports from the world's second-biggest steel producer fell 7.3 percent for the year.

(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)