By Jihoon Lee
SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea’s exports barely grew in February, missing market expectations, with demand in key markets hurt amid a global trade war triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Outbound shipments from Asia’s fourth-largest economy stood at $52.60 billion, up 1.0% from a year earlier, preliminary trade data showed on Saturday, weaker than a median 3.8% increase forecast in a Reuters poll of economists.
The return to growth, after falling in January for the first time in 16 months with a decline of 10.2%, was largely due to the timing difference in the Lunar New Year holidays. On a working day-adjusted basis, exports fell 5.9% in February.
By country, shipments to China, South Korea’s biggest export market, fell 1.4%, while those to the United States rose 1.0%. Exports to the European Union also dropped 8.1%.
South Korea is the first major exporting economy to report trade figures each month, providing an early glimpse into the health of global demand. It was also the first monthly trade data released since Trump started to roll out various tariffs.
Trump said on Thursday a fresh 10% tariff would be imposed on imports from China starting next week, in addition to the 10% tariff levied from last month, which prompted Beijing to take countermeasures.
This month, U.S. tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, as well as steel and aluminium imports, are set to come into force. Trump also plans to introduce in April reciprocal tariffs on every trading partner, and more tariffs likely sooner on products such as chips and autos.
South Korea’s industry minister, Ahn Duk-geun, in talks with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick this week, requested a tariff exemption, the ministry said on Saturday.
By product, exports of semiconductors fell 3.0% in February, snapping 15 months of gains on a decline in memory-chip prices, but automobiles jumped by a 13-month high of 17.8% on a boost from sales of hybrid vehicles. Steel products fell 4.4%.
Imports rose 0.2% to $48.30 billion, bringing the country’s monthly trade balance to a surplus of $4.30 billion.
(Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
