General

Despite the harsh environment, Sino US trade is still at a record high! According to the latest data released by the General Administration of Customs of China, the total trade volume between China and the United States in 2022 increased by 0.6% year-on-year, reaching a record high of 759.427 billion US dollars.

Since 2018, the world's two largest economies have been engaged in reciprocal trade measures. According to new data, US imports from China in 2022 reached US $581.783 billion, an increase of 1.2%. The reason is that American consumers are spending more on Chinese made goods such as toys and mobile phones.

Although the growth of trade between the two countries is partly the result of rising living costs, these figures also indicate that even after years of trade conflicts between China and the United States, the two countries still rely on each other. Deborah Elmes, founder of the Asian Trade Center, said in an interview, "I think this is an important sign of the actual difficulty of decoupling. Even if governments, businesses, and consumers want to separate, from an economic perspective, it is difficult for businesses and consumers to provide products at prices they are willing to pay in a decoupled world."

In 2018, the Trump government began to increase trade measures with Beijing. After decades of increasing imports from China, Trump began imposing tariffs on Chinese goods worth more than $300 billion. China retaliated by imposing import tariffs on about $100 billion of American goods. After a year of trade measures, the total import and export trade decreased by 15.3% in 2019

In 2020, due to the severe impact of the pandemic, the economies of various countries were severely hit, and China became the only major economy with positive economic growth in the world. Import and export trade was higher than expected, with the total trade volume between China and the United States increasing by 4.98%.

In 2021, the goods imported by the United States from China rebounded significantly along with the total import and export volume, and at the same time reached a record high of 576.075 billion US dollars. The total trade volume between China and the United States continued to grow, with a year-on-year increase of 28.79%, reaching a record high.

Trade data best reflect economic trends. After the United States implemented tariff measures aimed at changing the trade structure between China and the United States, US imports from China still experienced a significant surge. In addition, although the United States has been seeking to shift its supply chain from China to other countries and rebuild factories, the United States purchases more Chinese goods than ever before.

With rising inflation, surging international oil prices, and strong demand for import and export commodities, it is expected that the total trade volume will continue to increase in 2023.