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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] South Korea’s ranking in the U.S. import market fell to ninth last year from seventh a year earlier, reflecting the impact of U.S. tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, according to industry data.
An analysis released Tuesday by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), based on import and export statistics from the U.S. Department of Commerce, showed that the United States imported goods worth $113.4 billion from South Korea during the January–November period of last year, down 5.9% from a year earlier.
South Korea accounted for 3.6% of total U.S. imports, ranking ninth among the United States’ top 10 import partners. The share and ranking marked a two-place drop from the previous year, when South Korea ranked seventh.
The 3.6% share was the lowest level recorded since 1988, when KITA began compiling related data. South Korea had consistently maintained a sixth- or seventh-place ranking for 15 years starting in 2009.
The top eight sources of U.S. imports last year were Mexico ($492.5 billion, 15.7%), Canada ($351.2 billion, 11.2%), China ($287.3 billion, 9.2%), Taiwan ($176.7 billion, 5.6%), Vietnam ($175.3 billion, 5.6%), Germany ($140.8 billion, 4.5%), Japan ($133.8 billion, 4.3%), and Ireland ($129.7 billion, 4.1%).
KITA said South Korea’s decline suggests that it was more adversely affected by the Trump administration’s broad tariff policies than competing economies. Taiwan and Ireland, which had ranked below South Korea prior to the introduction of the so-called “Trump tariffs,” overtook South Korea last year.
Taiwan, a key competitor to South Korea in the foundry segment of the semiconductor industry, climbed sharply from eighth place in 2024 with a 3.6% share to fourth place last year with 5.6%. Although Taiwan has been subject to a provisional 20% reciprocal tariff pending a trade agreement with the Trump administration, its flagship export—semiconductors—has been exempt from product-specific tariffs, limiting the direct impact on exports.
Analysts attributed South Korea’s shrinking position in the U.S. import market to high tariffs imposed on major Korean export items such as automobiles, steel and machinery.
Japan, whose manufacturing base and trade structure are considered similar to South Korea’s, also saw its ranking fall by two places, from fifth to seventh, over the same period.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
