Goods, jobs at stake

China’s trade surplus with the United States — a near-record $347 billion last year — is politically explosive but behind it is a complex relationship that supports American jobs.

President Donald Trump is pressing Chinese leaders to narrow their trade gap. American companies have appealed for caution to avoid disrupting sales to China, their No. 3 export market.

China bought American goods worth $115.6 billion in 2016. The U.S.-China Business Council says that, along with Chinese investment in the United States, supports 2.6 million American jobs.

U.S. exports to China rose 77 percent from 2007 to 2016, more than double the 36 percent growth for the rest of the world. Imports from China rose 41 percent.

Some American companies worry Trump’s focus on trade in goods might mean he pays too little attention to other issues such as access to Chinese markets for finance, health care and other services. U.S. exports of services to China rose more than 400 percent over 2006 to $47 billion in 2015, outpacing the 76 percent growth for the rest of the world.