Beijing’s trade surplus with US hit record high in 2018

BEIJING, Jan 14 (AFP): China's trade surplus with the United States hit a record high last year but the country's imports and exports fell in December as the long-running trade war begins to bite in the world's number two economy, data showed Monday.

The surplus with the US is a major source of anger within the Trump administration, which imposed tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods last year and has warned of more to come.

Despite the levies, exports to the United States grew 11.3 per cent last year while imports rose 0.7 per cent, expanding the surplus to a record $323.3 billion from $275.8 billion in 2017, customs data show.

However, in a sign that the White House's measures are having an impact, China's exports to the US sank last month.

The figures come after a US delegation held three days of talks in Beijing last week in the first face-to-face meeting since Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in December pledged a 90-day truce to resolve the crisis.

Trump wants Beijing to buy more American goods to narrow the yawning trade gap and allow foreign players better access and protection in the Chinese market.

China traditionally imports vast quantities of American soybeans in the second half of the year, long making it the most valuable import from the US.

But the buying fell off last year after China imposed a 25 per cent retaliatory tariff on the commodity in the summer.

Total imports of soybeans fell 7.9 per cent last year to 88 million tonnes, customs data showed, with December imports down 40.1 per cent from a year earlier.

"The overall development of China-US trade in 2018 was still relatively normal, but the trade surplus did expand slightly," said Li Kuiwen, spokesman for the customs administration.

The country's commerce minister told state media on Friday that China will work to straighten out trade frictions with the US this year.

China's exports to the world fell 4.4 per cent in December from a year earlier, while imports dropped 7.6 per cent, reflecting sluggish demand at home and abroad.

A Reuters report adds: China's exports unexpectedly fell the most in two years in December, while imports also contracted, pointing to further weakness in the world's second-largest economy in 2019 and deteriorating global demand.

Adding to policymakers' worries, data on Monday also showed China posted its biggest trade surplus with the United States on record in 2018, which could prompt President Donald Trump to turn up the heat on Beijing in their bitter trade dispute.

Softening demand in China is being felt around the world, with slowing sales of goods from iPhones to automobiles, prompting warnings from the likes of Apple and from Jaguar Land Rover, which last week announced sweeping job cuts.