S. Korea's daily exports down 10.6 pc in Sep amid US tariffs

Seoul, Sep 22 (IANS) South Korea's exports expanded 13.5 per cent from a year earlier in the first 20 days of this month, but per-day exports sank over 10 percent amid the United States' new tariff scheme, data showed on Monday.

Outbound shipments reached $40.12 billion in the Sept. 1-20 period, compared with $35.36 billion tallied over the same period last year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service, reports Yonhap news agency.

Imports increased 9.9 percent on-year to $38.22 billion during the period, resulting in a trade surplus of $1.9 billion, the data showed.

The daily average volume of exports, however, declined 10.6 percent on-year to $2.43 billion, as the number of working days in the cited period this year was 3.5 days greater than last year's 13 days.

By item, exports of semiconductors surged 27 percent from a year earlier to $9.49 billion. Chip exports accounted for 23.7 percent of the country's total exports over the cited period, up 2.5 percentage points from the same period last year.

Automobile exports advanced 14.9 percent on-year to $3.42 billion, while shipments of vessels soared 46.1 percent to $1.51 billion.

Steel exports went up 7.1 percent on-year to $2.53 billion, while those of chemical products fell 4.5 percent to $2.68 billion.

By destination, exports to China, South Korea's top trading partner, gained 1.6 percent on-year to $7.77 billion.

Shipments to the U.S. rose 6.1 percent on-year to $6.55 billion during the first 20 days of September, but the daily average figure dropped 16.4 percent amid President Donald Trump's administration's aggressive tariff measures.

In July, Seoul and Washington reached a framework agreement under which the U.S. agreed to lower "reciprocal" tariffs on Korean goods to 15 percent from the initially threatened 25 percent.

In return, South Korea committed to investing US$350 billion in the U.S., along with other pledges. Follow-up talks to finalize the details are still under way.

In August, exports, a key economic growth engine for the country, rose 1.3 percent on-year to $58.4 billion thanks to strong demand for semiconductors.

--IANS

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