South Korea’s exports returned to growth on the back of continuing demand for semiconductors, in a positive sign for policymakers seeking to shore up the trade-reliant economy against any potential headwinds from US president-elect Donald Trump’s tariff plans.
Exports adjusted for working-day differences rose 3.6 percent last month from a year earlier, rebounding from a dip in the prior month, data from the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy showed yesterday. Headline exports climbed 1.4 percent while imports decreased 2.4 percent, resulting in a trade surplus of US$5.6 billion.
Semiconductor exports increased 30.8 percent from a year earlier to US$12.5 billion, the trade ministry said. Still, it was the slowest growth since late last year.
Photo: REUTERS
South Korea is one of the world’s most export-reliant nations, and its vulnerability to protectionism has raised concerns among policymakers and business leaders in Seoul after Trump vowed to increase tariffs on trading partners.
While South Korea might be subjected to universal tariffs of just 10 percent, it could also sustain indirect damage from larger duties targeting some of its key trading partners. Trump has pledged 60 percent charges for China, South Korea’s biggest trading partner.
The Bank of Korea on Thursday slashed its benchmark interest rate in a surprise back-to-back move aimed at girding the economy for any potential headwinds stemming from Trump’s return to the White House next month.
The central bank has already voiced concerns about a softening in the export growth of technology products. South Korea is home to two of the world’s biggest memory chip manufacturers, and its businesses are widely embedded across global technology supply chains.
“Trump’s return to the White House suggests a tumultuous period lies ahead, with higher US tariffs and fresh US-China trade frictions impairing the smooth flow of goods and the functioning of supply chains,” Dave Chia, an associate economist at Moody’s Analytics, said in a note. “As a key US and China trading partner, South Korea could be caught in the middle.”
Demand from both China and the US slipped last month. Shipments to China edged down 0.6 percent from a year earlier while those to the US fell 5.1 percent, the trade ministry said.
Separately, South Korea has the capacity to purchase more US energy, which is competitive in cost with Middle East imports, Yonhap News yesterday cited Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Duk-geun as saying.
Ahn told Yonhap that the country needs to expand US imports to reduce trade surplus with the US and plans to fold it into policy “constructively,” while private companies can take it into consideration as part of their business strategies.
The minister’s comments suggest South Korea will seek to encourage US energy imports through government-run firms and private refiners, Yonhap said. US gas and oil prices are “reasonable,” making it easier for South Korea to procure them, Ahn told Yonhap.
During Trump's election campaign, he vowed to narrow trade deficits with other countries through tariffs and increase US oil and gas production to establish what he called energy dominance.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
RSS