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China-US surplus hits record, adding fuel to trade war

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Beijing: China’s trade surplus with the United States ballooned to a record $34.1 billion in September, despite a raft of US tariffs, official data showed on Friday, adding fuel to the fire of a worsening trade war.


Relations between the world’s two largest economies have soured sharply this year,


with US President Donald Trump vowing on Thursday to inflict economic pain on China if it does not blink.


The two countries imposed new tariffs on a massive amount of each other’s goods mid-September, with the US targeting $200 billion in Chinese imports and Beijing firing back at $60 billion worth of US goods.


“China-US trade friction has caused trouble and pounded our foreign trade development,” customs spokesman Li Kuiwen told reporters on Friday.


But China’s trade surplus with the US grew 10 per cent in September from a record $31 billion in August, according to China’s customs administration. It was a 22 per cent jump from the same month last year.


China’s exports to the US rose to $46.7 billion while imports slumped to $12.6 billion.


China’s overall trade — what it buys and sells with all countries including the US — logged a $31.7 billion surplus, as exports rose faster than imports.


Exports jumped 14.5 per cent for September on-year, beating forecasts from analysts polled by Bloomberg News, while imports rose 14.3 per cent on-year.


While the data showed China’s trade remained strong for the month, analysts forecast the trade war will start to hurt in coming months.


China’s export jump for the month suggests exporters were shipping goods early to beat the latest tariffs, said ANZ’s China economist Betty Wang, citing the bounce in electrical machinery exports, much of which faced the looming duties.


“We will watch for downside risks to China’s exports” in the fourth quarter, Wang said.


“The big picture is the Chinese exports have so far held up well in the face of escalating trade tensions and cooling global growth, most likely thanks to the competitiveness boost provided by a weaker renminbi (yuan),” said Julian Evans-Pritchard, China economist at Capital Economics. — AFP


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