China-US trade expands 4.2% in Jan-Nov period

Trade between China and the US, China's third-largest trading partner, reached 4.44 trillion yuan ($612.4 billion) in the first eleven months of this year in yuan-denominated terms, up 4.2 percent year-on-year, according to data released by China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) on Tuesday. The growth rate slowed by 0.2 percentage points from the reading in the first ten months and was unchanged from the 4.2-percent growth recorded in the first three quarters of this year, customs data showed.

A Chinese analyst said that the uptick in China-US trade offers a vivid display of the highly complementary and resilient nature of the two economies' trade structures, despite rising uncertainties. It also serves as a reminder to Washington how raising tariffs – a wrong proposition – could harm the interests of enterprises on both sides and potentially inflict significant pain on US consumers.

In breakdown, China's exports to the US expanded 5.1 percent year-on-year to 3.38 trillion yuan in January-November period, while imports from the US were 1.06 trillion yuan during the same period, up 1.4 percent year-on-year, GAC data showed.

In a broader picture, China's overall foreign goods trade rose 4.9 percent year-on-year to 39.79 trillion yuan ($5.49 trillion) in the first 11 months this year, with exports up 6.7 percent year-on-year and imports up 2.4 percent year-on-year, GAC data showed. China's trade with the US accounted for 11.2 percent of its total foreign trade volume during the same period, according to customs data.

Gao Lingyun, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, told the Global Times on Tuesday that in the first eleven months, the China-US trade has continued the upward trend despite the US government's decoupling push and unilateral trade restriction measures, which reflected the stable and resilient fundamentals of bilateral trade and economic relations.

Gao also attributed the export growth rate to "holiday seasons," as the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays have fueled US demands for Made in China products. "Some US trading firms could also be in a rush to stockpile Chinese imports over concerns on potential tariff hike next year, and this effect could be more evident in December," Gao noted.

According to a Wall Street Journal report in November, US companies are now "stocking up" Chinese imports to get ahead of Trump's potential tariff hikes.

Trump threatened in November to impose sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China as soon as he takes office as part of his effort to crack down on illegal immigration and drugs. He said he would impose a 25 percent tax on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10 percent tariff on goods from China, as one of his first executive orders, the Associated Press reported.

"The slew of data also serves as a warning to Washington to reflect on its trade and economic policies toward China, whether from the perspective of US consumers or from that of global trade development," Gao noted.

In response to Trump's rhetoric, He Yadong, a spokesperson from China's Ministry of Commerce, told a press conference last week that China's position against unilateral tariff measures has been consistent. The US should abide by WTO rules and work with China to promote the stable and sustainable development of China-US economic and trade relations in accordance with the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation.