China’s exports to US plunge as trade talks loom

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China’s exports to the United States had decreased last month since the beginning of the Covid-19s, with Beijing’s shares highlighting, as Chinese negotiators and the United States are scheduled to meet in London on Monday for commercial talks.

Exports to the United States decreased by 34 percent on an annual basis in US dollars, according to the Financial Times accounts based on official data, the largest decrease since February 2020 and more severe than a decrease in 21 percent in April.

Trade was an important engine for growth for China against the background of the slowdown. The total exports increased by 4.8 percent year on an annual basis.

Data highlights the influence on commercial tensions exports between the world’s largest economists.

London talks follow a phone call last week between US president Donald Trump and China Xi Jinping. On May 12, the two sides agreed to a 90 -day truce, which is still fragile in the middle of a row on the slow approval of rare land shipments.

Through its restrictions on rare land exports, which have a monopoly near China, China has shown its bargaining power and forced Trump to return to the negotiating table. Analysts said that the latest trade numbers show that the American customs tariff affects losses.

“It is possible that May’s data has declined during the peak tariff period,” said Lin Song, Engel’s chief economist in Engi. “We expect export growth to the United States in the coming months.”

Separate data on Monday showed that the prices of consumers in China in May decreased for the fourth month in a row and the prices of producers decreased in the fastest pace in nearly two years.

The National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday that the consumer price index fell by 0.1 percent on an annual basis in May. Producers, which reflect the cost of goods at the factory gate, have decreased by 3.3 percent, which is the fastest decline since July 2023.

Economists in Nomura said that the deepest factory prices are perhaps due to commercial tensions, “as manufacturers participate in fierce prices for export orders.”

Commercial tensions added pressure from the slowdown of property that started in 2021. years of weak growth in prices and contraction periods raised concerns about consumer confidence and added calls for further motivation from Beijing.

The Popular Bank of China announced last month cuts to the main lending rates as part of a fixed reduction that also witnessed the reduced mortgage rates to support the housing sector.

Zichun Huang, Chinese economist at Capital Economics, suggested that trade data showed us the customs tariff weighing total exports.

“Early signs indicate that the American demand for Chinese goods has recovered somewhat since the Geneva truce, which must reduce clouds on exports in the short term,” she noticed. “But it seems unlikely that the customs tariff will be more reduced and there is still a risk of its height again.”

The song “Eng” said it was difficult to imagine a significant increase in the consumer price index because “the feeling of local consumer is still soft and the tariff can cause more contraction.”