Economic news

South Korea braces for Trump’s policies with biggest-ever export finance support

2025.01.19 22:38

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea pledged on Monday a record amount of financing support for exporters to mitigate any negative impact from changes in U.S. trade policies as Donald Trump was poised to be sworn in for his second presidency.

The government plans to provide 360 trillion won ($247.74 billion) worth of policy financing to exporting companies through state-run banks and institutions this year, according to a statement released by the finance ministry.

“There are concerns that external uncertainty will be heightened under the incoming U.S. administration and adversely affect exports,” the ministry said.

The ministry said it would also boost insurance support to guard against foreign exchange volatility to 1.4 trillion won this year, from 1.2 trillion won last year, and spending on government projects, such as trade fairs and delegations, to 2.9 trillion won from 2.1 trillion won.

Sectors particularly under threat of new U.S. policies are semiconductors and rechargeable batteries, the ministry said, whereas defence, nuclear energy and shipbuilding sectors are seen as more promising because of room for cooperation with the United States.

U.S. President-elect Trump, who takes office later on Monday, has pledged to impose stiff tariffs on major trading partners, such as Mexico, Canada and China, which are also expected to affect South Korean companies running factories in those countries.

Economists say there are worries that the Trump administration will introduce trade policies against South Korea too, after Asia’s fourth-largest economy earned a record-high surplus of $55.7 billion in trade with the U.S. in 2024, up 25.4% from 2023.

© Reuters. A container ship leaves Pusan Newport Terminal in Busan, South Korea, July 1, 2021. Picture taken on July 1, 2021.REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File photo

The Korea International Trade Association, South Korea’s biggest group of exporting companies, projects export growth to slow to 1.8% this year. Last year, South Korea’s exports rose 8.1% to a record high of $683.7 billion, as sales to the U.S. rose 10.4%.

($1 = 1,453.1500 won)



Source link

Related Articles

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 96,921.97 1.07%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 2,666.94 2.49%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 2.57 4.89%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00 0.01%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 644.32 1.51%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 171.42 0.97%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 1.00 0.00%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.246386 2.17%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 0.774405 3.03%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 2,660.33 2.67%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.238623 2.32%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 96,732.92 1.28%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 17.72 2.39%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 3,208.69 1.70%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 3.37 1.82%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 24.67 0.32%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.329641 5.09%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 129.88 2.33%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 3.65 1.37%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000015 1.07%
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.213195 2.71%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 9.66 0.70%
hyperliquid
Hyperliquid (HYPE) $ 24.69 0.35%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 1.00 0.45%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 5.17 3.46%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 2,668.75 2.45%
mantra-dao
MANTRA (OM) $ 7.48 0.38%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 320.37 0.85%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 0.99452 0.57%
bitget-token
Bitget Token (BGB) $ 4.74 4.61%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 2,816.89 2.82%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 8.93 4.85%
monero
Monero (XMR) $ 228.75 0.65%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 3.40 0.65%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000009 0.96%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 27.36 0.09%
aave
Aave (AAVE) $ 248.31 4.11%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 447.58 0.07%
ondo-finance
Ondo (ONDO) $ 1.15 6.71%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 6.12 2.89%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 1.00 0.01%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 7.06 0.45%
official-trump
Official Trump (TRUMP) $ 15.96 4.94%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 20.43 1.94%
mantle
Mantle (MNT) $ 0.905779 12.09%
tokenize-xchange
Tokenize Xchange (TKX) $ 37.37 0.96%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 48.93 1.19%
gatechain-token
Gate (GT) $ 22.88 0.66%
sonic-3
Sonic (prev. FTM) (S) $ 0.872109 5.95%
susds
sUSDS (SUSDS) $ 1.03 0.82%