Korea's exports at risk as global trade tensions continue
- 6 years ago
보호무역주의 물결속... 한국 수출 경고등
In that report submitted to parliament by the BOK... global trade uncertainty is highlighted as the number one challenge to the economy.
Our Kim Hyesung sheds light on the status of the nation's exports and trade outlook.
Last year, Korea's exports hit an all time high of 573-point-nine billion U.S. dollars, accounting for about two thirds of its GDP...lifting the country's economic growth to three-point-one percent.
But with an escalating trade dispute between the U.S. and China,...Korea's main economic driver, exports, is under fire.
In the first half of this year, Korea shipped 297.5 billion dollars' worth of goods, increasing 6-point-6 percent on-year.
This is a solid number, but it is comprised of mostly semiconductors, which account for a fifth of Korea's total exports.
Without them, export growth between January and June this year would actually be a mere one-tenth of a percent.
With chipmakers cutting down on facilities investment, and the industry possibly nearing the end of a two-year semiconductor supercycle that started in late 2016,... Korea's export growth could actually fall sharply if semiconductor exports start to slow down.
On top of that....Korea's steel exports have been restricted to a quota by the U.S., while also facing provisional safeguard measures by the EU, which were imposed last week in retaliation to the U.S.'s 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum.
Already, Korea's auto exports and steel exports dropped over 5 percent and zero-point-three percent on-year between January and June,...and the concern is that this could worsen in the later half of this year.
The Trump Administration's probe into auto imports add another risk.
"If the U.S. concludes that auto imports, including those from Korea, hurts its national security,...the Trump Administration could go ahead and impose tariffs of 25 percent on autos. Growing trade protectionism not only hurts global trade and Korean exports...it also hurts domestic consumption and investment. All this means increasing pressure to Korea's economy."
The Korean government, led by the trade and finance ministries, has been reaching out to other countries, advocating against trade protectionism and trying to persuade the U.S. to exempt Korea from auto tariffs.
However, with the ongoing trade dispute between Washington and Beijing,...and with the U.S. likely to go ahead with a second round of tariffs on China, Korea can't afford to let its guard down on its exports' front and be on full alert.
Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.
In that report submitted to parliament by the BOK... global trade uncertainty is highlighted as the number one challenge to the economy.
Our Kim Hyesung sheds light on the status of the nation's exports and trade outlook.
Last year, Korea's exports hit an all time high of 573-point-nine billion U.S. dollars, accounting for about two thirds of its GDP...lifting the country's economic growth to three-point-one percent.
But with an escalating trade dispute between the U.S. and China,...Korea's main economic driver, exports, is under fire.
In the first half of this year, Korea shipped 297.5 billion dollars' worth of goods, increasing 6-point-6 percent on-year.
This is a solid number, but it is comprised of mostly semiconductors, which account for a fifth of Korea's total exports.
Without them, export growth between January and June this year would actually be a mere one-tenth of a percent.
With chipmakers cutting down on facilities investment, and the industry possibly nearing the end of a two-year semiconductor supercycle that started in late 2016,... Korea's export growth could actually fall sharply if semiconductor exports start to slow down.
On top of that....Korea's steel exports have been restricted to a quota by the U.S., while also facing provisional safeguard measures by the EU, which were imposed last week in retaliation to the U.S.'s 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum.
Already, Korea's auto exports and steel exports dropped over 5 percent and zero-point-three percent on-year between January and June,...and the concern is that this could worsen in the later half of this year.
The Trump Administration's probe into auto imports add another risk.
"If the U.S. concludes that auto imports, including those from Korea, hurts its national security,...the Trump Administration could go ahead and impose tariffs of 25 percent on autos. Growing trade protectionism not only hurts global trade and Korean exports...it also hurts domestic consumption and investment. All this means increasing pressure to Korea's economy."
The Korean government, led by the trade and finance ministries, has been reaching out to other countries, advocating against trade protectionism and trying to persuade the U.S. to exempt Korea from auto tariffs.
However, with the ongoing trade dispute between Washington and Beijing,...and with the U.S. likely to go ahead with a second round of tariffs on China, Korea can't afford to let its guard down on its exports' front and be on full alert.
Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.