As a result of the Korea-U.S. trade negotiations, Korea has pledged an investment of $350 billion (approximately 488 trillion won) to the United States. The government is expected to initiate large-scale policy financing support for domestic corporations by creating funds to execute investments in the U.S. The financial investment industry analysts note that sectors such as shipbuilding, semiconductors, secondary batteries, and biotechnology should pay attention to the expanded policy financial support.
The research center of Hyundai Motor Securities stated in a report released on the 31st after the trade negotiation that, "The investment fund for the U.S. will be in the form of loans and guarantees through policy financial institutions such as the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation or the Export-Import Bank, rather than direct government capital injection," and added, "Corporations that are currently making or plan to make large-scale investments in the U.S. will benefit from reduced financing expenses."
Accordingly, advice has been given to pay attention to sectors that are entering the U.S. market with the support of policy financing. First, President Lee Jae-myung expressed that $150 billion out of the $350 billion will be managed as a dedicated fund for shipbuilding cooperation, which has drawn interest towards the shipbuilding sector. It is expected that the shipbuilding cooperation program proposed to the U.S., known as the "MASGA project," will influence the stock prices in the shipbuilding industry.
Excluding the shipbuilding fund, the $200 billion investment is expected to be linked with major domestic industries such as semiconductors, secondary batteries, and biotechnology. In particular, semiconductors, which are subject to tariffs, are projected to benefit from this policy financing.
Song Seon-jae, a researcher at Hana Securities, noted, "Existing semiconductor companies have been making investments in the U.S. under the Chips Act," adding, "Investments from Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, and Abcellera have totaled $41.2 billion, equivalent to 20% of the total fund of $200 billion."
In the biotechnology sector, Celltrion is reportedly planning to invest a total of 1.4 trillion won by acquiring a manufacturing plant in the United States with an investment of 700 billion won. While Samsung Biologics has not announced specific plans, there are expectations that it might expand its production facilities in the U.S.
In Japan, which concluded trade negotiations with the U.S. ahead of Korea, stock prices of sectors expected to benefit from policy financing have risen significantly. Japan pledged an investment of $550 billion (approximately 760 trillion won) to the U.S., providing investment and credit guarantees to corporations entering sectors such as semiconductors, energy, and steel infrastructure through Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI).
The rise in stock prices in Japan after concluding trade negotiations with the U.S. was centered around beneficiaries of policy financial support. Notably, SoftBank Group, the holding company of SoftBank, recorded its highest share price in the past year (52 weeks) at 12,485 yen during trading the day after the negotiations. Earlier this year, SoftBank launched the AI data center project "Stargate" in collaboration with OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, and software company Oracle. The expectation that the Japanese government will support the data center sector in this investment in the U.S. seems to have contributed to the strong stock prices.
Nippon Steel, which acquired U.S. steel company U.S. Steel, saw its stock prices surge due to the potential for policy financial support. Nippon Steel closed at 2,990 yen, up 1.53% compared to the previous trading day, the day after the trade negotiations.
Nippon Steel promised an investment of $1.1 billion (approximately 15 trillion won) in the U.S. upon acquiring U.S. Steel last month. While there were concerns about the financial burden from promising large investments in addition to the acquisition cost, it seems this was influenced by expectations of support from Japanese government policy financing.
A source from the securities industry stated, "As uncertainties regarding tariffs are resolved, it appears that, for the time being, the direction of the market will be determined by the investment fund in the U.S. rather than domestic policies," and emphasized, "Corporations that are already investing in the U.S. should also investigate whether they can receive support and which stocks might benefit from the spillover effects of new projects."