US economy buoys Chinese trade surplus but ‘trade war unlikely’
Merchandise shipments to the US continue to rise in July, outpacing growth in other major markets
China’s trade surplus with the United States continued to rise last month, buoyed by the US economic recovery.
Despite Washington’s threats of an investigation into the trade imbalance, China’s merchandise shipments to the US, its second-biggest export market, jumped to US$37.3 billion in July, up 8.9 per cent from a year earlier and resulting in a trade surplus of US$25.2 billion, the General Administration of Customs said on Tuesday.
US-bound exports grew at 12.1 per cent in the first seven months, well above the 9.5 per cent for the European Union, 6.2 per cent for Japan and 9 per cent for Asean countries. The January-July surplus with the US totaled US$143.5 billion, a year-on-year increase of 6.3 per cent.
Overall, China’s July exports rose 7.2 per cent from a year earlier, while imports grew 11 per cent, both well below analysts’ forecasts. That left the country with a trade surplus of US$46.74 billion for the month, customs said.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected July shipments from the world’s largest exporter to have risen 10.9 per cent, easing slightly from 11.3 per cent growth in June.