The country, Asia’s fourth largest economy, remains one of Washington’s key trading partners and home to powerhouse chip and auto industries.
Its exports in April totalled US$58.2 billion, up 3.7% year-on-year, according to the Korea Customs Service.
According to other data released by the trade ministry, exports of chips – the nation’s largest outbound product – rose 17.2%, the largest jump in four months and the highest ever for the month of April.
Also performing well were wireless communication devices including smartphones and biopharmaceutical products, with increases of 26.5% and 21.8%, respectively.
Seoul and Washington are working to craft a “trade package” intended to roll back US President Donald Trump’s new levies ahead of a July 8 expiration of his administration’s tariff freeze.
Washington implemented a 25% tariff on steel imports in early March, followed by a 25% tariff on auto imports.
In addition, a 10% blanket tariff went into effect in early April, and higher “reciprocal” tariffs targeting major countries, including South Korea, were suspended for 90 days.
The trade figures come about a week after South Korea’s SK Hynix, the world’s second largest memory chip maker, reported record quarterly profits, thanks to soaring global demand for artificial intelligence.
The firm’s South Korean rival, Samsung Electronics – a global chip and smartphone giant – yesterday also posted a better-than-expected 21.7% rise in first-quarter net profit, buoyed by strong smartphone sales.
Shipments of cosmetic and beauty products rose by 20.8%, while exports of agri-food products also went up by 8.6%.
Exports to the EU jumped 18.4% to a monthly record high of US$6.7 billion, while those to China also rose 3.9%.
However, the country’s shipments to the US dropped by 6.8%, while overall exports of automobiles also declined 3.8%.
Trade minister Ahn Duk-geun said the data – particularly the increase in shipments to key markets including China and the EU despite a decline in exports to the US – is “evidence that the competitiveness of Korean exports remains solid despite external uncertainties”.
Imports dropped by 2.7% in April, resulting in a trade surplus of US$4.8 billion, down from US$4.98 billion in the previous month.