Trump's Mutual Tariff Shock... Shaking South Korea's Export Competitiveness [3-Minute Brief]

[At a Glance]
① US Unilaterally Assesses Korea's Tariff Rate at 50%
② K-Food Exports Up 8% in Q1 to $3.2 Billion
③ Subway Fare Hike Delayed in the Seoul Metropolitan Area

MARKET INDEX : Year to date

○ US New York Stock Exchange's three major indices suffer largest drop in 5 years
○ Recession and trade war concerns... panic selling spreads
○ Dollar value and international oil prices plunge... government bond prices rise

Top3 NEWS

■ Trump: "Korea has the worst non-tariff barriers"… imposed mutual tariffs of '25%'

○ China 34%, Japan 24%, EU 20% tariffs imposed
○ Korea, ranked 8th in US trade deficit, mentioned multiple times
○ Tariff rate is 0% under FTA but calculated as 50%

■ K-Food sailing smoothly… exports up 9.6% in Q1 this year

○ Record highest Q1 performance ever
○ GCC up 37.9%, EU up 34.1%
○ Processed foods like ramen increased by 11.1%

■ Delayed subway fare hike… government opposition and political turmoil

○ Only Gyeonggi Province and Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly delayed fare hike approval
○ Cautious about fare hike due to possibility of early presidential election
○ Government requests restraint on fare hikes… Seoul city also concerned

Graphic News: Household loan growth slowed in March... "Too early to be relieved"

○ Household loan growth in April increased compared to every March
○ This year especially coinciding with spring moving season demand, interest rate cut expectations, and lifting of land lease system
○ Financial sector "Strengthening continuous monitoring and keeping a close watch"

the Chart: "Quarter-end seasonal effect" Foreign exchange reserves $409.7 billion in March, increased after three months

○ As of end of March, $409.66 billion... up $450 million
○ National Pension Service and foreign exchange swap transactions ＜ quarter-end effect
○ Increase in foreign currency asset management income also influential

Today's Key Schedule

○Domestic

KOSDAQ AU Brands listing, final public offering price 16,000 KRW

○Overseas

08:30 Japan Household Spending (MoM) (February)

15:00 Germany Factory Orders (MoM) (February)

21:30 US Average Hourly Earnings (MoM) (March)

21:30 US Nonfarm Payrolls (March)

21:30 US Unemployment Rate (March)

◇ Lunch & Commute Weather

○ Low temperature 6℃(0℃) ｜ High temperature: 16℃(▼1℃)
○ Precipitation probability Morning 0%｜Afternoon 0%
○ Fine dust Morning Moderate｜Afternoon Moderate

OK in 3 minutes, essential time-efficient economic news. Published daily at 8 AM.