Korean firms risk US sales decline if tariffs increase report finds

A Samsung, Texas, Korea, and United States flag hang in front of the Samsung semiconductor chip plant in Taylor, Texas, U.S., Jan. 2. EPA-Yonhap

Korean chipmakers and other exporters will likely suffer setbacks in their U.S. sales in case of any additional tariffs on their products, a corporate data tracker said Tuesday.

Leaders Index surveyed 100 firms out of the country’s top 500 companies by sales to analyze their U.S. sales between January-September 2024.

The 100 companies’ U.S. sales jumped 19.5 percent to a combined 313.52 trillion won ($215.7 billion) in the nine-month period from 262.27 trillion won a year earlier, the company said in a press release.

The ratio of U.S. sales out of their overall sales also increased to 28.1 percent from 25.2 percent over the same period, it added.

Should the Donald Trump administration impose additional tariffs on imports, as he has said, Korean chipmakers, automobile manufacturers, pharmaceutical and bio-health companies are expected to suffer the most, according to Leaders Index.

Higher tariffs will weaken their price competitiveness and affect their sales in the U.S. market, it noted.

“Companies like Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor, which have production facilities in the U.S., may consider increasing U.S. production in case of higher tariffs,” Leaders Index Chief Executive Park Ju-gun said.

On Monday (U.S. time), Trump ordered a 25 percent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports, saying it will lead to “a lot of businesses” opening in the United States. He has also threatened to start imposing reciprocal duties on some trade partners in the very near future. (Yonhap)