South Korea exports fall as tariffs hit U.S., China shipments

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 U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.

Exports from Asia’s fourth-largest economy, an early bellwether for global trade, declined 1.3% from the same month last year to $57.27 billion, government data showed on Sunday.

“Declines in exports to both the United States and China, the two biggest markets, suggest U.S. tariff measures are having an impact on the global economy as well as our exports,” said South Korean Industry and Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun.

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% fall forecast in a Reuters poll of economists. On a working-day adjusted basis, exports in fact rose 1.0%.

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 aluminum to 50%.

Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs”, including 25% duties on South Korea, are on a 90-day pause for negotiations.

South Korea’s May shipments to the United States fell 8.1% and those to China fell 8.4%. Exports to the European Union rose 4.0%, those to Southeast Asian countries fell 1.3%, while those to Taiwan surged 49.6%.

Exports of semiconductors jumped 21.2%, thanks to robust demand for advanced memory chips, but car exports fell 4.4% due to U.S. tariffs and production at Hyundai Motor‘s new factory in the U.S. state of Georgia, according to the ministry.

South Korea’s imports fell 5.3% to $50.33 billion, bringing the monthly trade balance to a surplus of $6.94 billion, the biggest since June 2024.