Who Will Benefit More?
Exports to the US totaled $34.056 billion in the first half of this year, down 0.9 percent from a year earlier. On the other hand, US exports to Korea grew 22.1% to US$25.891 billion, according to the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy.
In the first half of the year, Korea’s exports to the US took a rollercoaster. The rate of change was -1.9% in January, 1.7% in February, -5.2% in March, 3.7% in April, -1.8% in May and -1.1% in June.
On the other hand, the US’s exports to Korea have been steadily increasing since November, when its exports to Korea turned positive. The US which finished its exports to Korea of 2016 with a 16.6% increase in December after an 11.8% increase in November, has been maintaining a big increase in its export to Korea with 19.1% in January, 22.8% in February, 16.1% in March, 32.8% in April, 20.9% in May and 22.0% in June.
Korea’s trade surplus with the US also declined to US$8.16 billion, down 37.9 percent from the same period last year. This is a decrease of US$4.99 billion from US$13.15 billion in the first half of last year. The balance between the effects of the Korea-US FTA by product categories is on the right track.
Exports to the US dropped by 9.1% and 14.9% in the fields of automobiles and auto parts, respectively, while wireless communication equipment and semiconductors also posted double-digit declines of 37.5% and 10.4%. On the other hand, US exports to Korea increased 20.2% in general machinery, 5.4% in petrochemicals, 5.7% in cars and 171.6% in wireless devices. On the other hand, world trade growth in January-April stood at 8.1 percent in exports, 9.2 percent in imports, and 8.7 percent in trade.