The effect of sulfate ions on the corrosion behavior of steel in ordinary Portland concrete (OPC) and high performance concrete (HPC) were investigated. Steel corrosion was evaluated by means of corrosion potential (E_corr), linear polarization resistance (LPR), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and cyclic polarization (CP). The electrochemical results indicated that, compared to the pure chloride solution, the presence of sulfate ions in the chloride solution both reduced the time to corrosion initiation and lead to an increase in corrosion rate of steel in OPC specimens; however, the sulfate ions had negligible effect in HPC specimens. Furthermore, the corrosion rate of steel exposed to chloride solution was higher that to the sulfate solution both in OPC and HPC specimens.