While Gangwon Province achieved record-breaking exports last year, its automotive parts sector, a key industry, experienced a significant downturn. The sector recorded its lowest performance in seven years due to challenging trade conditions with the United States.
Industry experts recommend market diversification as a potential solution. They also stress the importance of analyzing the current U.S. tariff situation to develop effective responses.
The Korea International Trade Association and its Gangwon regional office report that Gangwon’s annual exports reached approximately 3.062 billion USD last year. This represents a 6.2% increase from 2.883 billion USD in 2024, marking the highest annual export value for Gangwon in the period from 2000 to 2025.
However, the automotive parts sector, a crucial export category, faced a different scenario. Gangwon’s annual automotive parts exports amounted to about 206.03 million USD last year, down 2.4% from 211.17 million USD in 2024. This is the lowest figure since 2018, when exports totaled 202.96 million USD.
Notably, exports to the United States, the primary market for Gangwon’s automotive parts, declined substantially. Exports to the U.S. totaled approximately 80.58 million USD last year, a 13.4% drop from 93.01 million USD in 2024. Exports to Mexico, the second-largest market, also decreased from 47.5 million USD to 45.2 million USD, a 4.9% reduction over the same period.
As Gangwon’s automotive parts industry struggles in the U.S. market, which accounts for about 40% of its exports, experts emphasize the need to explore emerging markets.
A spokesperson from the local export industry said the recovery in automotive parts exports remained limited, partly due to decreased stability in trade structures. The spokesperson added that the focus should be on strengthening long-term competitiveness through market diversification rather than pursuing short-term export expansion.
Furthermore, experts suggest that Gangwon’s automotive parts industry should closely monitor U.S. tariff policies. Associate Professor Um Ji Hyun from Gangwon University’s International Trade Department and Na Yong Nam, an economic researcher at the Bank of Korea’s Gangwon office, recently published a report titled “The Impact of a Potential Second Trump Administration’s Tariff Policies on Gangwon Exports.”
In the report, they said automotive parts remain a key export for Gangwon and play a crucial role in exports to the U.S. They added that these parts are included in the tariff categories implemented by the Trump administration and warned that if tariff rates rise relative to competitor countries, exports could decline.