"Exports Down 11.3% in First Half... $19.9 Billion Surplus with FTA Trading Partners"

KCS Announces '2020 First Half FTA Utilization Export-Import Trade Trends'

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] South Korea's exports in the first half of this year recorded $240.6 billion, a decrease of 11.3% compared to the same period last year. Trade with countries that have signed Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) showed a surplus of $19.9 billion, while trade with non-FTA countries recorded a deficit of $9.2 billion.

On the 30th, the Korea Customs Service announced the '2020 First Half FTA Utilization Export-Import Trade Trends' report containing these details. Due to the economic downturn and border closures caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the total trade volume from January to June this year decreased by 10.1% from last year to $470.4 billion.

During this period, total exports amounted to $240.6 billion, down 11.3% year-on-year, and imports were $229.8 billion, down 9.0%. The trade balance showed a surplus of $10.8 billion.

Trade volume with FTA partner countries decreased by 6.8% year-on-year to $335.9 billion, while trade with non-FTA countries fell by 17.4% to $134.5 billion.

Exports to FTA partner countries were $177.9 billion, down 10.2% from last year, and imports were $158.0 billion, down 2.7%. As a result, the trade balance recorded a surplus of $19.9 billion. Compared to the first half of last year ($35.7 billion), this is a decrease of $15.8 billion.

For non-FTA countries, exports were $62.7 billion, down 14.3% from the previous year, and imports shrank by 20% to $71.8 billion. The trade balance recorded a deficit of $9.1 billion, narrowing from the $16.6 billion deficit in the first half of last year.

The Korea Customs Service stated, "In the trade shock situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, FTAs have acted as a buffer in maintaining trade volume and trade surpluses."

Looking at trade status by major FTA partner countries, surpluses were recorded with China ($10 billion), ASEAN ($15.3 billion), the United States ($4.2 billion), and Vietnam ($11.1 billion), while the European Union (EU) recorded a deficit of $4.4 billion due to a sharp decline in exports.

The utilization rate of FTAs in the first half was 74.0% for exports and 77.6% for imports. By agreement, FTA export utilization rates were highest in ▲Canada (95.0%) ▲EU (86.7%) ▲EFTA (85.8%) ▲United States (84.2%), and import utilization rates were highest in ▲Chile (99.5%) ▲New Zealand (94.4%) ▲Vietnam (86.7%) ▲Australia (84.4%).

The FTA export utilization rate in major industries increased by 2.2 percentage points in chemical products, and import utilization rates increased across all sectors, led by a sharp rise in machinery (10.4 percentage points). The 20.9% increase in automobile imports drove the rise in machinery FTA import utilization rates.

FTA utilization status is disclosed quarterly on the 'Korea Customs Service YES FTA Portal,' where detailed FTA utilization information can be viewed at a glance.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.