South Korea's June exports rebounded, but exports to the U.S. and China continued to decline.

Reuters: South Korea's exports rebounded driven by technology demand, but exports to the US and China continued to decline

Reuters, July 1st report, South Korea's trade data released on Tuesday showed that exports in June increased by 4.3% year-on-year to 59.8 billion US dollars, driven by strong demand for technology products such as semiconductors, which marked a return to growth after a 1.3% decline in May. However, due to the uncertainty of US tariff policies, exports to the US and China remained weak, with exports to the US declining for the third consecutive month by 0.5%, and exports to China decreasing for the second consecutive month by 2.7%. At the same time, exports to the EU grew significantly by 14.7%, and exports to Southeast Asian countries increased by 2.1%.

Kim Dong-jin, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy of South Korea, said that the fluctuation of US tariff policies and the uncertainty of economic recovery will continue to affect exports in the second half of the year, and the South Korean government will formulate a comprehensive response plan. According to senior South Korean trade officials, the government is seeking to extend the temporarily suspended US tariff measures, which are scheduled to expire next week, by 90 days, as negotiations between the two sides may take more time. Looking at specific industries, semiconductor exports have maintained growth for four consecutive months, but the increase of 11.6% is the lowest level in recent times; auto exports rose by 2.3%, mainly due to strong demand for electric vehicles in Europe, which to some extent offset the weakness in the US market.

South Korea's imports increased by 3.3% year-on-year to 50.72 billion US dollars in June, and the trade surplus reached 9.08 billion US dollars, the highest level since September 2018. As a "barometer" of global trade, changes in South Korea's export data indicate the latest trends in global trade.

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