China-US trade down in July, ASEAN & EU up

China’s trade with the US declined in the first seven months of the year, while trade with other major trading partners such as ASEAN and the EU notably improved during the period, Chinese customs data showed on Friday.

Experts attributed the decline in China-US trade to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The total value of China-US trade was 2.03 trillion yuan ($291.4 billion) from January to July, down 3.3 percent year-on-year, according to statistics released on Friday by the General Administration of Customs.

In the first seven months, China’s exports to the US totaled 1.56 trillion yuan, down 4.1 percent, and imports from the US decreased by 0.3 percent on a yearly basis to 475.5 billion yuan. The trade surplus was 1.08 trillion yuan, down 5.7 percent.

“The decline of China-US trade can be attributed to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and trade frictions. Due to the large decline in exports to the US, China’s surplus with the US has shrunk,” Hu Qimu, a senior fellow at Sinosteel Economic Research Institute, told the Global Times on Friday.

The US was China’s third-largest trade partner in the first seven months of the year, following ASEAN and the EU, and the only one among the top three to see a decline in trade. China’s trade with ASEAN rose 6.6 percent year-on-year during the period, while trade with the EU was up 0.1 percent.

In another sign the US’ declining role in China’s foreign trade, trade with the US account for 11.8 percent of the total, compared to ASEAN’s 14.6 percent and the EU’s 14 percent, according to the official data.

Analysts said that China should boost domestic demand to offset the possible decline in foreign trade and maintain economic growth.