China’s US trade deal commitments more than 30 per cent short of year-to-date target, report says

China’s total purchases of US goods in 2021, as of the end of May, reached only 69 per cent of the pledged total, according to Chinese import data

Energy purchases reached just 34 per cent of China’s five-month target, based on US export data, but Chinese import data put that figure at 54 per cent

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The US and China signed their long-awaited trade deal in January 2020, with the conditions of the agreement taking effect one month later. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 2:24pm, 30 Jun 2021Updated: 11:17pm, 30 Jun 2021

China was more than 30 per cent short of its 2021 commitments under the phase-one trade deal with the United States during the first five months of the year, according to new analysis of trade data between the world’s two largest economies.

The US and China signed their long-awaited deal in January 2020, and the terms outlined in the agreement took effect one month later.

As part of it, China committed to buying an additional US$200 billion worth of goods and services over 2020-21, relative to 2017’s levels.

But according to a report released by the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) on Tuesday, China’s purchases of US goods from January to May reached only 69 per cent of the year-to-date target based on Chinese import data, and only 62 per cent of the target based on US export data.

An earlier PIIE report in February, which similarly was compiled by economist Chad Bown, said that a large part of the phase-one trade deal that entered into force a year prior was a “failure”, after US exports of phase-one goods to China in 2020 fell more than 40 per cent short of the target.

According to the latest PIIE report, agriculture purchases under the phase-one trade deal reached 84 per cent of the 2021 commitment up until the end of May based on Chinese import data, and 86 per cent of the target based on US export data.

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