SEOUL — South Korea’s exports for the first 20 days of June rose 8.3 percent from a year earlier, after falling in May for the first time in four months, early data showed on Monday.
Exports of semiconductors rose 21.8 percent, while cars and ships gained 9.2 percent and 47.9 percent, respectively, according to the customs agency. Steel products rose 1.6 percent.
Shipments to the US rose 4.3 percent, despite President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, but those to China fell 1.0 percent.
“Exports seem better than expected as tariffs are currently paused except the 10 percent baseline duty applying to all countries,” said Park Sang-hyun, an economist at iM Securities.
“But, with the deadline set for next month, it is still early to make assessments,” Park said, also noting US consumer demand and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East as major factors.
South Korea’s chief trade envoy is visiting the US this week for senior and working-level trade talks, the first since President Lee Jae Myung took office on June 4 and two weeks ahead of the July 8 deadline set between Seoul and Washington for a trade package reducing tariffs.
Exports are expected to fall 0.6 percent in the first half of the year and 3.8 percent in the second half as demand for semiconductors slows, Korea International Trade Association said on Monday.
The country’s central bank also sees the impact of US tariffs starting to take effect from the third quarter.
South Korea’s exports fell in May for the first time in four months, as shipments to the United States and China dropped on global trade conflict triggered by US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
Exports from Asia’s fourth-largest economy, an early bellwether for global trade, declined 1.3 percent from the same month last year to $57.27 billion, government data showed on Sunday.
The first decline since January followed rises as strong chip sales had offset downward pressure from Trump’s tariff threats.
The May decline, however, was milder than the 2.7 percent fall forecast in a Reuters poll of economists. On a working-day adjusted basis, exports in fact rose 1.0 percent.
China and the United States agreed in mid-May to a 90-day truce, significantly unwinding their tariffs on each other, after months of back-and-forth retaliatory measures, but Trump on Friday accused Beijing of violating the agreement and threatened to take tougher action. He also said he would double global tariffs on steel and aluminium to 50 percent.
Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs”, including 25 percent duties on South Korea, are on a 90-day pause for negotiations.
South Korea’s May shipments to the United States fell 8.1 percent and those to China fell 8.4 percent. Exports to the European Union rose 4.0 percent, those to Southeast Asian countries fell 1.3 percent, while those to Taiwan surged 49.6 percent.
Exports of semiconductors jumped 21.2 percent, thanks to robust demand for advanced memory chips, but car exports fell 4.4 percent due to U.S. tariffs and production at Hyundai Motor’s new factory in the US state of Georgia, according to the ministry.
