CHINA’s surplus with the United States hit a record last month, data showed Friday, adding to brewing tensions between the economic superpowers as they stand on the brink of an all-out trade war that Beijing warned would have a “negative impact” globally.
The figures come after the two sides exchanged tit-for-tat tariffs on billions of dollars worth of goods and US President Donald Trump threatened to up the ante with measures on a further $200 billion of Chinese imports.
Beijing said China’s surplus with the US hit an all-time high $28.97 billion last month, while exports to the country hit a record $42.62 billion.
Over the first six months of the year the surplus climbed to $133.8 billion, up 13.8 percent from last year, as total two-way trade continued to expand despite the face-off.
The imbalance is at the heart of Trump’s anger at what he describes as Beijing’s unfair trade practices that are hurting American companies and destroying jobs.
But in a statement from its commerce ministry Thursday, China blamed those problems on the US, saying the imbalance was “overestimated” and caused by America’s own “domestic structural problems.”
China’s overall surplus continued to shrink, falling 24.5 percent on-year for the first six months, the data showed, with customs saying it has shrunk for the past eight quarters.
Last Friday, Trump rolled out 25 percent tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese goods, prompting Beijing to accuse Washington of launching the “largest trade war” in economic history and immediately matching the US tariffs dollar for dollar.
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