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Korea's exports down 1.3% to $57.3 billion in May on Trump tariff effect

Published: 01 Jun. 2025, 13:48

A view of Sinseondae Pier and Gamman Pier, container-only terminals in Busan, on June 1. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Korea's exports dropped 1.3 percent from a year earlier in May, snapping a three-month winning streak, as outbound shipments to the United States sharply went down amid Donald Trump administration's sweeping tariff policies, government data showed Sunday.

Outbound shipments came to $57.3 billion last month, compared with $58.02 billion a year ago, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Imports shrank 5.3 percent on year to $50.3 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $6.94 billion.

In May, shipments to the United States slid 8.1 percent from a year ago to $10 billion, mainly due to weak exports in the automotive sector, hit by the Trump administration's 25 percent tariffs.

Exports to China also decreased 8.4 percent on year to $10.4 billion on low demand for semiconductors and petrochemical products, while exports to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations lost 1.3 percent to $10 billion.

On the other hand, exports to the European Union gained 4 percent to $6 billion, up for the third consecutive month, on strong demand for automobiles and semiconductors.

"The U.S. tariffs seem to be affecting the global economy and Korea's exports, proven by a decrease in Korea's exports to the two biggest markets — the U.S. and China," Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Duk-geun said.

"In particular, the sharp drop in international oil prices to the low $60 range in May led to a more than 20 percent on-year decline in exports of petroleum and petrochemical products, which was another major factor in the overall decrease in outbound shipments," he added.

By item, chip exports climbed 21.2 percent on year to $13.8 billion, the highest figure for any May, on robust demand for high-value products, such as high bandwidth memory.

Outbound shipments of wireless communications products added 3.9 percent to $1.3 billion, driven by a 30 percent jump in smartphone exports.

Exports of computers, including solid state drives, increased 2.3 percent to $1.1 billion, while exports of biohealth products and vessels rose 4.5 percent and 4.3 percent to $1.4 billion and $2.2 billion, respectively.

Auto shipments, however, fell 4.4 percent to $6.2 billion on sluggish exports to the United States.

Exports of petroleum products slipped 20.9 percent to $3.6 billion, while petrochemical exports dipped 20.8 percent to $3.2 billion.

Agro-fisheries and cosmetics exports, meanwhile, expanded 5.5 percent and 9.3 percent to both hit a record high of $1 billion.

Yonhap