South Korea’s position in the U.S. market weakened compared with major competitors, reflecting the impact of U.S. tariffs, according to an analysis of U.S. government trade data.
An analysis of U.S. Commerce Department import and export statistics released Tuesday on the Korea International Trade Association’s statistics service showed the United States imported $113.4 billion in goods from South Korea last year through November. That was down 5.9% from the same period a year earlier.
South Korea accounted for 3.6% of total U.S. imports, ranking ninth among the top 10 suppliers. That was down two places from a year earlier.
It was South Korea’s lowest ranking since 1988, the earliest year tracked in the association’s analysis. South Korea held steady at No. 6 or No. 7 for 15 years starting in 2009, and in 2024 it ranked seventh with a 4.0% share, just before the Donald Trump administration took office.
The top U.S. import sources last year through November were Mexico ($492.5 billion, 15.7%), Canada ($351.2 billion, 11.2%), China ($287.3 billion, 9.2%), Taiwan ($176.7 billion, 5.6%), Vietnam ($175.3 billion, 5.6%), Germany ($140.8 billion, 4.5%), Japan ($133.8 billion, 4.3%) and Ireland ($129.7 billion, 4.1%).
The drop suggests South Korea was hit harder than rivals by the Trump administration’s broad tariff policy. Taiwan and Ireland, which ranked below South Korea in 2024, moved ahead last year.
Taiwan, a key competitor to South Korea in foundry chip manufacturing, jumped from No. 8 in 2024 (3.6%) to No. 4 last year (5.6%). Taiwan has been temporarily subject to a 20% reciprocal tariff because it has not completed a trade deal with the Trump administration, but semiconductors, its main export, are not subject to separate product-specific tariffs, limiting the direct impact on exports.
South Korea, by contrast, took a bigger hit because major exports such as automobiles, steel and machinery were subject to high tariffs.
Japan, which is seen as having a similar trade structure to South Korea due to its strong manufacturing base in autos and semiconductors, also slipped two places, from No. 5 to No. 7.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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