Trump tariffs hit Korea's exports for May
Korea's exports suffered a year-on-year decrease in May and those to the United States had a significant drop of over 8 percent, signaling that the fallout from the Donald Trump administration's tariff policies has begun to take a toll on Korea's exports. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Sunday, the country's overall exports in May fell by 1.3 percent to $57.27 billion compared to the same month last year, marking the first decline since January. Until January this year, Korea’s exports had recorded year-on-year growth for 15 consecutive months since October 2023, and also from February to April this year. Exports to the U.S. dropped 8.1 percent to $10 billion with a sharp decline in the automotive sector, which is Korea’s largest export sector to the country. Car exports fell by 32 percent to $1.84 billion, far outpacing the 19.6 percent drop recorded in April, when Trump's car tariffs took effect. This suggests that the impact of the tariffs is materializing with sustained downward pressure on the country's car industry. The fall of automotive exports over
