China’s imports from the US fell by a fifth in 2019, as trade war stripped away demand

China’s imports from the US dropped to US$122.7 billion in 2019 amid an intensified trade war, China customs data released on Tuesday showed

China must engineer a significant rebound in imports to realise its promises to buy US$200 billion in additional US goods and services in phase one trade deal

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A worker checks containers at a logistics centre near Tianjin port, in Tianjin, China December 12, 2019. Picture taken December 12, 2019. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:30pm, 14 Jan 2020Updated: 11:02am, 21 May 2020

China’s imports from the United States plunged 20.9 per cent in 2019 from a year earlier, after a calendar year dominated by US President Donald Trump’s trade war tariffs.

Data from China’s General Administration of Customs released on Tuesday showed that China’s imports of US goods dropped to US$122.7 billion in 2019 from a level of US$155.1 billion in 2018 and US$154 billion in 2017.

This means that Beijing would have to more than double its imports to meet US demands for US$200 billion in additional purchases of American goods and services over the next two years.

The South China Morning Post and POLITICO reported that China has agreed to meet the lofty target by buying around US$75 billion in manufactured goods, US$50 billion of energy, and US$40 billion in agricultural products, plus US$35 billion to US$40 billion in services.

A combined US$165 billion pledged purchase of manufactured goods, energy and farm products would translate to a steep rise in China’s US imports. Even if half of the promised purchases are made in 2020, China’s imports from US would surge by 67 per cent from 2019.

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