Exports of major South Korean export items to the United States dropped significantly last year amid ever-increasing trade protectionism from the U.S. government. 

According to the Korea International Trade Association Saturday, the shipment of automobiles, South Korea's largest export product to the United States, decreased six-point-four percent to 14-point-seven billion dollars last year. Wireless communications equipment and auto parts, which are the second and third biggest export items to the U.S., posted double-digit drop, at minus 17-point-four and minus 16-point-one percent respectively. 

Meanwhile, imports of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, which is the number one import item from the U.S., increased almost 120 percent last year to six billion dollars thanks to the semiconductor boom and increase in facilities investment. 

The association's data shows that South Korea's total exports to the United States amounted to 68-point-six billion dollars last year, up three-point-two percent from the previous year. Imports, however, increased 17-point-four percent to 50-point-seven billion dollars during the same period. 

As a result, the trade surplus decreased to 17-point-nine billion dollar, the first time it dropped below the 20-billion-dollar level since 2012 which saw 15-point-two billion dollars in trade surplus with the United States.  

Seoul is expected to use the trade figures as a bargaining chip in the ongoing negotiations with the U.S. to revise their free trade agreement.