Trade with U.S., Japan slows, China steps up

Korea’s trade dependence on the United States and Japan dropped in the first seven months of this year from a year ago, while its trade with China is increasing, officials said yesterday.
Korea’s exports to the U.S. stood at 26.9 billion won ($28.7 million) in the January to July period, accounting for 12.9 percent of the nation’s total exports of 208 billion won in the same period, down 0.7 percentage point on-year, the Korea Customs Service said in a statement.
The ratio of U.S.-bound shipments compared to the nation’s total exports has been decreasing since 2000 when it reached 21.8 percent. It then slid to 17.7 percent in 2003, 16.9 percent in 2004, 14.5 percent in 2005 and 13.3 percent in 2006.
The nation’s imports from the U.S. were 21.6 billion won in the same period, down 0.2 percentage point year-on-year to 10.8 percent of its total imports of 199 billion won.
The portion of the country’s imports from the U.S. also has been dropping since 2000, when it accounted for 17.3 percent of the total. It accounted for 15.9 percent in 2001, 15.1 percent in 2002, 13.9 percent in 2004, 11.7 percent in 2005 and 10.9 percent in 2006.
Meanwhile, Korea’s shipments to Japan reached 14.9 billion won by July, representing 7.2 percent of its aggregate exports, down 1.1 percentage points from a year ago.
The nation’s exports to Japan have been falling since 2001 when it represented 11 percent of all its exports, the service said. In the January to July period, Korea’s imports from Japan were valued at 32.1 billion won, or 16.1 percent of its overall imports.
“Korea’s efforts to diversify trade partners led to a fall in its trade dependence on the U.S. and Japan, while China has become Korea’s biggest trade partner,” said an industry official.
China’s portion in Korea’s entire exports grew to 21.5 percent this year from 10.7 percent in 2000.
Yonhap