South Korea recorded its highest ever monthly semiconductor exports in August despite growing pressure from US tariffs and other restrictions on the crucial sector, government data showed Monday.
Seoul logged more than $15 billion in exports of semiconductors last month, a new record and an increase by almost a third from August 2024.
The surge was driven by strong demand from China and the exemption of chips from tariffs, the industry ministry said Monday.
The country鈥檚 other key exports 鈥� cars and shipbuilding 鈥� also performed strongly, with auto shipments climbing to $5.5 billion and ship exports to $3.14 billion, both marking their strongest August performance.
Driven by the strong figures, overall exports reached $58.4 billion, the highest ever recorded for the month of August.
Exports to the United States, however, dropped 12 per cent from a year earlier to $8.74 billion, as tariffs weighed on steel, auto and machinery shipments.
Asia鈥檚 fourth-largest economy was initially hit with a 25 per cent across-the-board tariff by the United States but managed to secure a last-minute agreement for a reduced 15 per cent rate.
But 50 per cent duties remain in place on some key exports like steel and aluminium.
The strong export figures reflect 鈥榓chievements born of the solid competitiveness of our companies and their determination to export, despite difficult external conditions such as US tariff policies,鈥� South Korea鈥檚 industry minister Kim Jung-kwan said in a statement.
鈥楾o minimise the damage inflicted on small and medium-sized firms by US tariff measures, the government will announce in early September a three-pronged support package,鈥� said Kim.
Despite robust chip figures, shares of South Korea鈥檚 tech giants slumped on Monday, with Samsung Electronics down more than two per cent and SK Hynix, the world鈥檚 second-largest memory chip maker, plunging over four per cent.
The drop followed a US Commerce Department announcement on Friday (Saturday in Seoul) that Washington would revoke waivers allowing the firms to use American technology in their Chinese operations.
The department said it had 鈥榗losed a Biden-era loophole that allowed a handful of foreign companies to export semiconductor manufacturing equipment and technology to China license-free鈥�.
The waivers will remain in place for 120 days, after which Samsung and SK Hynix will be restricted to manufacturing only older-generation chips in China.
Both firms depend on their Chinese operations as key hubs for mainstream semiconductors, rather than high-end products such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM) vital for artificial intelligence.
