South Korea’s top ramyeon maker, Nongshim, holding a promotional event for its flagship Shin Ramyun instant noodles in Manhattan, New York, recently. — Agencies
AFTER years of record exports, especially to the United States, South Korea’s food industry is now keen to gauge the impact of Donald Trump’s second presidency.
The outspoken leader declared during his recent campaign that he could impose blanket tariffs of 10% to 20% on all US imports, raising concerns about Korea’s key export items such as computer chips and cars. But it is often overlooked that the US remains the largest export destination for Korea’s agricultural and seafood products.
In the first 10 months of this year, Korea’s agricultural and food exports soared 22% to US$8.19bil (RM36.86bil), and the US made up US$1.31bil (RM5.85bil) of the total, driven by growing demand for popular K-foods such as gimbap, tteokbokki, and ramyeon.
“Trump’s second term will likely have a significant impact on the K-food industry,” said Lee Hong-joo, a professor of consumer economics at Sookmyung Women’s University, Seoul. “With possible hikes in tariffs and other non-tariff barriers, the price competitiveness of Korean products could weaken, dampening consumer demand. Smaller businesses especially may face higher production costs and weakening profitability.”
But Lee urged strategic shifts to reduce the risks, saying, “Com-panies could reduce tariff burdens and reach local consumers more quickly by expanding production and distribution bases within the US.
“These localisation efforts, in the long run, could help raise their consumer awareness and sales.”
Samyang Foods is one of Korea’s leading ramyeon exporters, best known for its spicy Buldak series. The company sees almost 70% of its sales from overseas markets, of which 29% is from the US.
“Currently, all of our exports are produced at our domestic plant in Korea to ensure quality control, which presents both challenges and opportunities,” a Samyang official said.
“Even though tariff burdens may negatively affect the market overall, a strong dollar could help us offset the impact.”
Companies with production bases in the US downplayed major concerns over Trump’s return.
“We have continued expanding our production facilities in the US.
“We could see benefits from localisation efforts,” an official of a major food company said on condition of anonymity.
“In addition to creating new jobs, our local plant could secure more locally-sourced ingredients. It would be a win-win cycle.” — The Korea Herald/Asia News Network
