China’s April exports rise even as tariffs undercut US shipments
China’s exports rise despite US tariffs
| Photo Credit:
Cheng Xin
China’s export growth rose even as shipments to the US slumped in the first month after President Donald Trump hit its goods with tariffs above 100 per cent, a boost for a domestic economy that’s been increasingly reliant on foreign demand.
Total exports expanded 8.1 per cent last month, above the 2 per cent increase forecast by economists. Shipments to the US fell 21 per cent after the imposition of tariffs in early April. Imports fell 0.2 per cent, leaving a trade surplus of $96 billion.
The first official hard data after the trade war escalated captures only the initial damage from the prohibitive tariffs, with their effects likely to become more pronounced starting this month. The expectation of many analysts is that unless the levies are reduced, trade between the world’s two largest economies will eventually fall to negligible levels after reaching almost $690 billion last year, decimating industries and raising prices for companies and consumers.
US and Chinese negotiators will meet this weekend for their first trade talks since Trump took office this year. Companies are hopeful both sides can eventually negotiate a reduction in the levies each has imposed on the other.
The slump in trade between the rival superpowers will be harmful to both economies, with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent calling the current tariffs “unsustainable.”
Bessent and his team will start talks on Saturday with a Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier He Lifeng to discuss the way forward.
The two sides have staked out strong positions ahead of the talks, which might indicate it will be hard to make quick headway on any deal. On Thursday, just hours after Trump said he was unwilling to lower levies on China in order to unlock more substantive negotiations, Beijing repeated its demand that the US cancel all its tariffs.
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Published on May 9, 2025
