Official figures show China’s monthly trade surplus with the US hit a record high of over $34.13 billion in September amid a heated trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
Figures released by the Chinese administration showed that the dollar-denominated exports to the US rose 14.5% from a year earlier, the fastest pace since February. The robust growth was well above August’s 9.8% when the deficit stood at a record of $31.05 billion.
It came as the administration of US President Donald Trump imposed a strong regime of tariffs on trade with Beijing.
Experts, as quoted by media, said September’s export growth indicated that US tariffs were not biting much yet. They also said the new China record trade surplus figure could prompt a reaction from US President Trump.
The Trump administration imposed tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods in the middle of September. This prompted Beijing to retaliate with tariffs on $60 billion worth of American products, dropping Chinese imports of American products by 9 percent last month.
Experts were quoted by media as saying that the record trade deficit could have been a result of a strategy by Chinese companies to ramp up shipments to the US before broader and stiffer duties went into effect. This, they said, was because businesses were concerned about a a sharper drop in export strength once all tariffs kick in.
Many investors and economic analysts are concerned that the deepening trade standoff between China and the US could derail the global economy. They have also warned that consumers in the US are the main victims of Trump's tariffs on Chinese goods.
On Friday, the International Monetary Fund warned that the tariffs war will undermine global economic growth, if it is not halted.