China’s trade surplus with the U.S. soared to a record high in June, according to China’s customs administration.
China announced Friday that June’s trade surplus with the U.S. was $28.97 billion, reportedly the highest on record, according to CNBC. Chinese exports to the U.S. increased by 5.7 percent to $42.62 billion, with imports from the U.S. surging by around four percent. It appears that exporters rushed to send their products abroad before tariffs went into effect in early July.
The U.S. imposed tariffs of 25 percent on $34 billion in Chinese goods, part of a broader package of tariffs due to be placed on Chinese products at a later date as a punishment for China’s unfair trade practices, on July 6, prompting China to respond with reciprocal duties on U.S. products. (RELATED: US, China Locked In ‘Largest Trade War In Economic History’ As Tens Of Billions Of Dollars In Tariffs Drop)
The Trump administration has since threatened to further punish China with additional tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. (RELATED: US Decides To Hit China With Tariffs On $200 Billion Worth Of Chinese Goods)
While Washington is determined to curb China’s “economic aggression,” the Trump administration also hopes to dramatically reduce the massive U.S. trade deficit with China, which was $375.2 billion.
Analysts, according to the BBC, expect trade figures to drop in July as a result of the punitive tariffs. “We expect the trade numbers for July to disappoint since that’s when the first round of US tariffs took effect,” Amy Zhuang, China analyst at Singapore’s Nordea Bank, told the British outlet. “Still, we do not expect a plunge because those tariffs only targeted $34 billion worth of goods which is fairly small compared to China’s total trade.”
The Chinese customs administration expressed a more pessimistic view, with the spokesperson explaining, “This trade dispute will certainly impact China-U.S. trade and will very negatively impact global trade.”
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