China reports 12.4% jump in exports in March despite Trump’s tariff threats

Bangkok: China’s exports jumped 12.4 per cent in March from a year earlier as companies rushed to beat increases in US tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, the government said Monday.

Imports fell 4.3 per cent, the customs administration reported.

It said exports from the world’s second largest economy rose 5.8 per cent in the first three months of the year from a year earlier while imports sank 7 per cent.

China’s trade surplus with the United States was $27.6 billion in March as its exports rose 4.5 per cent. It logged a surplus of $76.6 billion with the US in the first quarter of the year.

China is facing 145 per cent tariffs on most exports to the United States as of the most recent revisions in Trump’s trade policies.

However, the biggest increases in exports were to China’s Southeast Asian neighbors, which saw exports from China jump nearly 17 per cent in March from a year earlier. Exports to Africa rose more than 11 per cent.

Chinese President Xi Jinping was travelling to Vietnam Monday as part of a regional tour that also will take him to Malaysia and Cambodia, giving him an opportunity to firm up trade ties with other Asian countries that also are facing potentially steep tariffs, though last week Trump delayed enforcing them by 90 days.

China’s exports to Vietnam jumped nearly 17 per cent last month from a year earlier, while its imports fell 2.7 per cent.

While Xi’s trip likely was planned earlier, it gained significance amid the trade war between Washington and Beijing.

A customs administration spokesperson, Lyu Daliang, said China was facing a “complex and severe external situation” but that the sky would not fall. He pointed to China’s diversified export options and huge domestic market.

When asked about falling Chinese imports, he told reporters that China has been the world’s second largest importer for 16 straight years, increasing its share of global imports from about 8 per cent to 10.5 per cent.

“At present and in the future, China’s import growth space is huge, and the large Chinese market is always a great opportunity for the world,” he said.

AP

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