China’s 2018 Trade Surplus with US Hits Record High $323B
Exports to
In December, Chinese exports to
The slowdown adds to pressure on
“The external environment is still complicated and severe,” a customs agency spokesman, Li Kuiwen, said at a news conference.
Li cited dangers including “protectionism and unilateralism” — a reference to Trump’s import controls — a possible slowdown in global economic growth and a decline in cross-border investment.
“The record
Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, agreed on to postpone additional tariff hikes by 90 days while they negotiated. But penalties of up to 25 percent already imposed on billions of dollars of each other’s goods remain in place, raising the cost for American and Chinese buyers of soybeans, medical equipment and other goods.
Trump is pressing
Chinese leaders are trying to reduce reliance on trade and nurture self-sustaining economic growth based on domestic consumer spending. But their plans call for keeping exports stable to avoid politically dangerous job losses.
Some companies have shifted production of goods bound for
December’s trade contraction is “like to continue into 2019 due to falling foreign demand, including demand for Chinese-made electronic products,” Iris Pang of ING said in a report.
Pang noted Chinese imports of more advanced technology for use in manufacturing smartphones and other higher-technology products declined 14.9 percent in December, nearly double the size of the contraction in overall trade.
That likely is due in part to “foreign companies avoiding using
In December,
For the full year, global exports rose 7.1 percent to $2.5 trillion, down from the 7.9 percent rate for 2017. Imports rose 12.9 percent to $2.1 trillion, down from the previous year’s 15.9 percent.
The country’s global trade surplus was $352 billion, a marked drop from 2017’s $509.7 billion. That reflects relatively stronger Chinese economic growth and consumer demand compared with its trading partners.
Given Trump’s frustration with
Still, Louis Kuijs of Oxford Economics says he expects
“We do not see the
General Administration of Customs of China (in Chinese): www.customs.gov.cn