General

What does the record high Sino American trade mean? On July 7th, data released by the United States Department of Commerce showed that the total amount of goods trade between the United States and China reached 690.6 billion US dollars in 2022, surpassing the 661.5 billion US dollars in 2018, setting a record high.

According to the statistics of the United States Department of Commerce, the export volume of goods from the United States to China increased by 2.4 billion dollars in 2022, reaching 153.8 billion dollars; The import volume increased by 31.8 billion US dollars to 536.8 billion US dollars.

This set of data is important and illustrative.

Because in recent years, Sino US trade relations have continued to tense. During the Trump era, the US government imposed additional tariffs on Chinese goods, leading to a Sino US trade war; And then encountering an epidemic; After Biden took office, the United States introduced various restrictive policies on China in terms of economy, technology, and trade.

In this situation, the trade volume between China and the United States has still reached a record high. What does that mean? This shows that the economic exchanges between China and the United States are close and the degree of economic interdependence is very deep.

Some people in the US business community take China and Russia for example. If the US government orders all Russian goods to be removed from the shelves, American consumers may not have any feelings; But if all Chinese goods are ordered off the shelves, American consumers will find that there is nothing to buy.

At present, some figures in American political circles advocate containment of China and "decoupling" from China. However, the American business and economic circles generally believe that the Chinese and American economies are interdependent, complementary, and mutually beneficial, and that the American economy, enterprises, and consumers are all beneficiaries of this relationship. Therefore, they all oppose the argument of "decoupling" between China and the United States.

After the data came out, CNN commented, "The data shows that decoupling from China and reducing dependence on China are clearly policy discussions in Washington, not solid trade facts.".

The website "Politician" quotes Ed Graysser, a former chief economist of the Office of the United States Trade Representative, as saying that although the United States' policy of imposing tariffs on China has an impact on bilateral trade flows, the behavior of consumers and businesses is more influential than political decisions.

So although this data reflects the trade situation between China and the United States last year, given that there are many problems in the current trade relationship between China and the United States, the record high data should also be enlightening for policymakers in Washington.