SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea’s government pledged on Wednesday more support measures for key export industries, including the biopharmaceutical and auto sectors, which are expected to be hit by U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
The government will prepare new measures to support its biopharmaceutical companies, as soon as details of Trump’s tariffs on the sector become available, it said in a statement.
Earlier this month, Trump signed an executive order aimed at reducing the time it takes to approve pharmaceutical plants in the country. The move is part of new regulations to encourage domestic manufacturing, coming after Trump launched probes into pharmaceutical imports in order to put tariffs on the sector.
South Korea’s exports of pharmaceutical products stood at $9.59 billion in 2024, accounting for just 1.4% of its total exports. Still, 16% of the exports were shipped to the United States, the biggest market.
The government said it would also prepare additional support measures, if necessary, to complement earlier packages announced last month to help other sectors, such as automakers, chipmakers and steel manufacturers, to cope with tariffs.
After a second round of ministerial-level trade talks last week, Seoul is holding technical discussions with Washington this week at the working level, as it seeks exemptions on all tariffs by crafting a trade package by early July.
South Korea’s exports were unexpectedly resilient last month, buoyed by strong demand for semiconductors despite the drag from U.S. tariffs, but there are signs that global trade tensions have started to impact its key auto sector.
(Reporting by Jihoon LeeEditing by Ed Davies)
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