Economy
South Korea exports down in May as tariffs hit US, China shipments
South Korea’s exports edged down slightly in May, dropping for the first time in four months, led by a decline in shipments to the United States and China due to global trade conflict triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
Exports from Asia’s fourth-largest economy, an early bellwether for global trade, declined 1.3% from the same month last year to $57.27 billion, government data showed on Sunday.
The first decline since January followed rises as strong chip sales had offset downward pressure from Trump’s tariff threats.
The May decline, however, was milder than the 2.7% fall forecast in a Reuters poll of economists. On a working-day adjusted basis, exports in fact rose 1.0%.
China and the United States agreed in mid-May to a 90-day truce, significantly unwinding their tariffs on each other, after months of back-and-forth retaliatory measures, but Trump on Friday accused Beijing of violating the agreement and threatened to take tougher action. He also said he would double global tariffs on steel and aluminum to 50%.
Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs,” including 25% duties on South Korea, are on a 90-day pause for negotiations.
South Korea’s May shipments to the United States fell 8.1% and those to China fell 8.4%. Exports to the European Union rose 4.0%, those to Southeast Asian countries fell 1.3%, while those to Taiwan surged 49.6%.
Exports of semiconductors jumped 21.2%, thanks to robust demand for advanced memory chips, but car exports fell 4.4% due to U.S. tariffs and production at Hyundai Motor’s new factory in the U.S. state of Georgia, according to the ministry.
South Korea’s imports fell 5.3% to $50.33 billion, bringing the monthly trade balance to a surplus of $6.94 billion, the biggest since June 2024.
Paramount inched closer to a blockbuster purchase of Warner Bros., months after the deal was initially floated, in what could be a game-changing moment in the entertainment industry.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a settlement with Paramount in a lawsuit his state led challenging the company’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on Monday, effectively paving the way for the mega merger to move forward, with some new commitments.
The $81 billion blockbuster deal will bring together two of Hollywood’s oldest studios, key TV networks like CBS and CNN, and streaming platforms HBO Max and Paramount, as well as decades of libraries with titles ranging from “Harry Potter” to “Top Gun.”
But terms of Monday’s agreement include what Bonta called “court-enforceable” requirements for Skydance-owned Paramount to increase domestic production and establish monitoring of editorial independence of the company’s news operations.
The settlement still needs final court approval. Bonta maintained that Monday’s agreement “is not a vote of support for this merger” – but that he was always willing to come to the table and “find a strong solution that protects competition and consumers.”
The coalition of states – including entertainment heavyweights like California and New York – sued to block the $81 billion merger back in July, alleging a Paramount-Warner combo would “extinguish competition” and lead to fewer choices for consumers, particularly movie theatergoers and cable customers across the U.S.
Accompanied by a complaint also filed by the Writers Guild of America, the challenge was headed toward a full antitrust trial set to kick off in March.
Paramount said the allegations were meritless, but previously agreed to delay its transaction well into next year so the case could make its way through court. It then quickly called for a settlement – arguing that it had satisfied all regulatory clearances worldwide, including from the Trump administration’s Justice Department and the states’ challenge was its “final obstacle.”
As reports of the states reaching a settlement with Paramount emerged Monday, critics decried the deal – while warning of what further consolidation could mean in an industry already controlled by just a few major players.
“Today, billionaires have yet again bribed, censored, and bullied their way to the top,” Alvaro Bedoya, senior adviser at the American Economic Liberties Project and former FTC commissioner, said in a statement earlier Monday.
“Layoffs will follow. People from L.A. to Atlanta will lose their jobs, small businesses will lose their contracts, your cable bill and movie ticket will be even more expensive.”
Paramount, which is run by David Ellison, whose ultra-wealthy family has ties to U.S. President Donald Trump, won a bidding war against Netflix in February for control of a stable of assets that includes Warner Bros. Pictures, CNN and the HBO Max streaming service.
The Trump administration approved the deal, one of the largest media mergers in years, in June without demanding a change to its business, before 12 U.S. states sued to block the transaction.
Financing for the deal reportedly includes about $24 billion in equity from the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. David Ellison’s father, billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison, also provided funding and a guarantee.
In their complaint, the 12 states argued the combined company would control roughly 27 percent of wide-release theatrical film distribution and a similar percentage of the basic cable channel industry.
California led the suit, joined by Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington, all Democratic-led.
Türkiye and the United Kingdom are continuing work on the procurement of Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets, the National Defense Ministry said Monday.
The statement came after a team of experts from the ministry inspected aircraft maintenance facilities at the Royal Air Force’s Coningsby Air Base in the U.K. from Sept. 15-17.
Türkiye earlier this month said its pilots had begun flight training in August as part of the Eurofighter agreement signed with the United Kingdom.
“The work on the Eurofighter Typhoon procurement project being carried out with the United Kingdom continues as part of the modernization efforts of our Air Force,” the ministry said.
It described the visit as a “strategic” step toward planning maintenance and sustainment processes, ensuring compatibility of technical infrastructure and strengthening bilateral cooperation.
The inspection was conducted as Ankara and London continue their work on the Eurofighter Typhoon procurement project, according to the ministry.
The agreement signed in late October last year covers 20 Eurofighter jets that Türkiye will buy from the U.K. The deal is worth about 8 billion pounds ($10.8 billion).
This March, the countries signed a technical and logistical agreement for the maintenance and operation of the warplanes.
Britain, a leading partner in the Eurofighter program, had been Türkiye’s most vocal supporter, and the agreement followed long negotiations to overcome a German objection to the sale.
Türkiye’s interest in the Typhoon was first reported in 2022, as Ankara grew frustrated with prolonged negotiations over the acquisition of F-16 fighter jets from the U.S.
Türkiye is scheduled to receive the first of the batch of Typhoons in 2030. The deal provides the option for the sale of more jets in the future.
In addition, Türkiye also plans to purchase 12 secondhand jets from Qatar and 12 others from Oman.
Meanwhile, Türkiye is developing its own fifth-generation fighter jet. Named Kaan, the stealth fighter is sought to replace the Air Force Command’s aging F-16 fleet, which is planned to be phased out starting in the 2030s.
Türkiye’s manufacturing capacity utilization rate rose in September, while business confidence edged higher, the country’s central bank said Monday.
The unadjusted capacity utilization rate in the manufacturing sector increased 0.7 percentage points from the previous month to 74.2%, the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) said.
The seasonally adjusted rate rose 0.6 percentage points to 74.1%.
Among the main industrial groups, the highest utilization rate in September was 74.5% in intermediate goods, down 0.2 percentage points from the previous month.
At the other end, durable consumer goods recorded the lowest rate at 66.4%, a decline of 1.8 percentage points month-over-month.
By sector, the manufacture of wood products posted the highest capacity usage at 83.7%, while the lowest rate, 59.8%, was recorded in the leather industry.
The data was based on responses from 1,982 manufacturing companies participating in the central bank’s business tendency survey.
Business confidence edges higher
Separate data by the CBRT showed the seasonally adjusted Real Sector Confidence Index rose 0.1 percentage points in September to 102.5.
Assessments of the overall business outlook, current total orders, total orders over the past three months and employment expectations for the next three months contributed positively to the index.
Expectations for export orders over the next three months, assessments of finished-goods inventories, fixed-capital investment spending and expected production over the next three months weighed on the index.
The unadjusted Real Sector Confidence Index fell 0.8 percentage points from the previous month to 102.
Mixed signals in orders and production
Companies’ assessments of production volumes over the past three months shifted further toward those reporting an increase.
The balance of responses on domestic orders shifted from a decline toward an increase, while assessments of export orders moved from an increase toward a decline.
Fewer companies said current total orders were below seasonal norms, while more respondents assessed finished-goods inventories as above seasonal norms.
For the next three months, expectations for higher production and export orders weakened, while expectations for an increase in domestic orders strengthened.
Expectations for higher employment over the next three months also strengthened, while expectations for fixed-capital investment over the next 12 months weakened.
Producer price expectations ease
Expectations for higher average unit costs over the next three months strengthened, as did reports of higher costs over the previous three months.
Expectations for higher selling prices over the next three months also increased.
The manufacturing sector’s expectation for annual producer-price inflation over the next 12 months fell 0.2 percentage points from the previous month to 31%.
Meanwhile, the share of respondents who viewed the overall outlook in their industry as worse than the previous month weakened, indicating a less pessimistic assessment of conditions.
Türkiye generated a combined 442.2 terawatt-hours of electricity from solar and wind power between 2015 and 2025, according to data from the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry released Monday.
The output helped avoid $21.5 billion in coal imports and an estimated 354 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, the ministry said.
The release coincided with the World Zero Emissions Day, observed on Sept. 21 since 2008 to raise awareness of the impact of fossil fuels, reduce carbon footprints and promote renewable energy.
Türkiye generated 11,847 gigawatt-hours of electricity from solar and wind in 2015, replacing electricity that would have required around $300 million worth of imported coal and avoiding an estimated 9.5 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions, the ministry said.
Renewable generation increased over the following decade, reducing the potential carbon emissions associated with fossil-fuel-based power generation.
Between 2015 and 2025, the 442.2 TWh generated by solar and wind was equivalent to electricity that would have required $21.5 billion in imported coal or $43.3 billion in imported natural gas, according to the ministry.
If the same amount of electricity had been generated entirely from imported coal, about 354 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions would have been avoided. If it had instead been generated entirely from natural gas, the avoided emissions would have amounted to about 177 million tons.
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said Türkiye was continuing to maximize its renewable-energy potential as part of its targets for net-zero emissions by 2053 and greater energy independence.
“Between 2015 and 2025, the 442.2 TWh of electricity we generated from wind and solar prevented carbon emissions of up to 354 million tons,” Bayraktar said in a post on the social media platform X.
He said Türkiye had also avoided tens of billions of dollars in fossil-fuel imports while expanding renewable energy.
Bayraktar said Türkiye had risen to fifth place in Europe and 11th globally in renewable energy by installed capacity and investment, and reiterated the country’s target of reaching 120 gigawatts of renewable capacity by 2035.
The shares of solar and wind power in Türkiye’s electricity generation reached 11.6% and 12.1%, respectively, as of this July.
Solar power’s share of electricity generation rose 28-fold from 0.4% in 2016, while wind power’s share increased from 5.7% to 12.1% over the same period.
The rise in renewable generation was accompanied by a significant expansion in installed capacity.
Türkiye’s total electricity generation capacity reached 126,476 megawatts (MW) at the end of July. Solar accounted for 27,507 MW, or 21.7% of total installed capacity, while wind capacity reached 15,358 MW, representing 12.1%.
Combined solar and wind capacity stood at 42,865 MW, accounting for 33.8% of Türkiye’s total installed electricity capacity.
Solar power generation also reached a new monthly record in July after setting a previous record in June. Solar-generated electricity totaled 5.37 billion kilowatt-hours in July, the highest monthly level on record.
Iranian airlines will have trouble functioning globally in two days under the weight of American sanctions, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned Monday, as the Trump administration seeks to keep pressure on Tehran.
On Sept. 23, Wednesday, “all the Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world,” Bessent told CNBC in an interview.
“If they land, you cannot provide them with fuel, you cannot provide them with landing services, you cannot sell them tickets, or you will be knocked out of the dollar system,” he added.
The war in Iran started after the United States and İsrael launched joint strikes in late February.
Tehran countered by blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for energy transit, causing global oil prices to surge as the conflict spread in the Middle East.
Earlier this month, the United States imposed sanctions on “all remaining Iranian airlines” that had yet to face such penalties.
The Treasury Department also took aim at targets for supporting Iran’s aviation sector, including firms based outside Iran.
Bessent previously vowed the United States would declare “economic D-Day” on Iran and pledged to choke off Tehran financially.
Bessent’s comments came a day after he met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng for economic talks laying the groundwork for President Donald Trump’s summit this Thursday with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
China is one of Iran’s top economic partners and diplomatic backers.
Iran’s aviation sector has long grappled with sanctions, which have restricted its ability to acquire aircraft, spare parts and maintenance services.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) briefly climbed past $1 trillion in market capitalization for the first time on Monday, marking a milestone for the chipmaker, which joined a small group of competitors with a similar valuation as investors bet on its expanding role in artificial intelligence computing.
The company’s shares were last up 9% at $610, after surging to an all-time high of $613.92, creating a valuation of just over $1 trillion.
The milestone caps a stellar rally for the Santa Clara, California-based AMD, regarded as the closest rival to AI bellwether Nvidia for graphics processing units (GPUs).
It becomes the fourth U.S. chipmaker to top a $1 trillion valuation, after Nvidia, Broadcom and Micron. Nvidia crossed the mark in 2023 and is now the world’s most valuable company, worth more than $5 trillion.
AMD has accelerated its AI product launches and moved beyond selling individual chips to offering complete systems that combine processors, networking gear and related hardware, helping it compete with Nvidia’s products.
The company is also benefiting from rising demand for central processing units used alongside graphics processors in servers handling inference. That has helped AMD take market share from Intel.
Early last month, AMD forecast quarterly revenue above Wall Street estimates, which fell short of lofty investor expectations, sending its stock down over 7% on the day. Since then, it has leaped over 26%.
Most chip stocks surged on Monday, with Intel jumping around 11%, Qualcomm rising 4.1% and the broader chips index gaining 2.6% to a one-month high.
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