China’s trade surplus topped $1 trillion for the first time as manufacturers seeking to avoid President Donald Trump’s tariffs shipped more to non-U.S. markets in November, with exports to Europe, Australia and Southeast Asia surging.
Shipments to the United States dropped by close to one-third from the same month a year before. “The tariff cuts agreed under the U.S.-China trade truce didn’t help to lift shipments to the U.S. last month, but overall export growth rebounded nonetheless,” said Zichun Huang, China economist at Capital Economics. “We expect China’s exports will remain resilient, with the country continuing to gain global market share next year.”
Chinese exports overall grew 5.9% year-on-year in November, customs data on Monday showed, a reversal from October’s 1.1% contraction, and beating a 3.8% forecast in a Reuters poll.
Imports were up 1.9%, compared with a 1.0% uptick in October. Economists had expected a 3.0% increase. China’s trade surplus was $111.68 billion in November, the highest since June and up from $90.07 billion recorded the previous month. That was above a forecast of $100.2 billion.
The trade surplus for the 11 months of the year topped $1 trillion for the first time.
China has stepped up efforts to diversify its export markets since Trump won November 2024’s U.S. election, pursuing closer trade ties with Southeast Asia and the European Union. It has also leveraged Chinese firms’ global footprint to establish new production hubs for low tariff access.
Chinese shipments to the United States dropped 29% year-on-year in November, while exports to the European Union grew an annual 14.8%. Shipments to Australia surged 35.8%, and the fast-growing Southeast Asian economies took in 8.2% more goods over the same period.
Tumbling exports to the U.S. came despite news that the world’s two biggest economies had agreed to scale back some of their tariffs and a raft of other measures after Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in South Korea on October 30.
The average U.S. tariff on Chinese goods stands at 47.5%, well above the 40% threshold that economists say erodes Chinese exporters’ profit margins.
Source: Economictimes.indiatimes