Chinese trade is thriving despite America’s attacks
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Since Donald Trump returned to office, one country has borne the brunt of his fury. “We’ve been ripped off by every country in the world," he declared in April, “but China is the…‘chief-ripper-offer’".
On September 6th the president came up with a new label: “deepest, darkest China". He has matched words with action. Tariffs on Chinese goods, including levies placed on the country for its role in the fentanyl trade, are among America’s highest.
Pacts with South-East Asian countries target goods suspected of being “transshipped" from China, and America has leaned on the EU to keep Chinese metals out of its supply chains. Much of Mr Trump’s agenda is scattershot; trying to isolate China looks like a coherent plan. Xi Jinping, China’s leader, has retaliated with his own tariffs, and is now courting other parts of the world, including the EU, India, Malaysia and Vietnam.
His boldest display came at the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation summit on September 1st, where he cast China as an alternative to America, urging members to “oppose cold war thinking...and bullying". What does all this mean in practice? A few months after Mr Trump’s “Liberation Day", trade data provide a clue. According to Chinese customs figures, the latest of which were released on September 8th, over the past three months exports to America have plunged by a quarter against a year earlier.
Uncle Sam’s share of China’s exports fell from 15% to 10% in August. Yet Mr Trump’s grander ambition—to hurt China’s trade machine—has been unsuccessful. From June to August, China’s total shipments rose by 6% year on year.
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