China releases July 2019 trade data, exports and imports
Tonghai port area in Nantong, China's Jiangsu Province.
Xu Congjun | Visual China Group | Getty Images
China on Thursday reported trade data that was better than expected despite increasing financial pressure from increased US tariffs.
The Asian economic giant said US US dollar exports in July rose 3.3% from a year ago, while imports fell 5.6% over the same period. The country's total trade surplus last month was $ 45.06 billion, according to toll data.
China's trade surplus with the United States was $ 27.97 billion in July, down from $ 29.92 billion last month, the data showed. From January to July, China's trade surplus with the United States totals $ 1[ads1]68.5 billion.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected Chinese exports to fall by 2% a month from a year ago, and imports would decline by 8.3% compared to the same period last year. The country's total trade surplus in July was estimated at $ 40 billion, according to the Reuters survey.
In June, exports from China fell 1.3% from the previous year, while imports fell 7.3% over the same period, customs data shows. The trade surplus that month was $ 50.98 billion, according to the data.
"Softer external demand and penalty rates will continue to curb export growth. Meanwhile, falling commodity prices, a high starting point last year and falling interim demand may have slowed import growth in July," Citi Research analysts wrote in a note last week preview of China latest trading data.
The Chinese economy – the second largest in the world – is growing at a slower pace amid an escalating Beijing-Washington trade war that started as a tariff war, but has recently spilled over into technology and currency. Last month, China said the economy grew 6.2% in the second quarter from a year ago – the weakest rate of at least 27 years.
Beijing has eased monetary policy and introduced fiscal measures such as tax cuts to boost economic activity. But the growth of the Asian economic giant may slow down even further if US President Donald Trump's administration moves on to new tariffs next month.
Last week, Trump threatened to slap 10% US $ 300 billion of Chinese goods from September. 1, which Citi analysts have said would reduce China's exports by 2.7% and reduce growth by 50 basis points. This is in addition to the economic damage China has already experienced after the US struck 25% of US $ 250 billion in Chinese goods.
After Trump's recent tariff threat, China allowed the currency – the yuan – to depreciate below an important threshold of $ 7 per US dollar. As a result, the United States labeled China a currency manipulator, which analysts said marked another escalation in tensions between the two countries.
