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China’s exports unexpectedly rise in July
BEIJING, Aug 8, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – China’s exports beat expectations to rise
in July while its purchases continued to shrink, official data showed
Thursday, despite simmering US trade tensions.
The trade war with the United States and weakening global demand had
weighed on China’s manufacturing sector during the first six months of the
year, with its global exports roughly flat from a year earlier.
But in July China’s exports rose 3.3 percent on-year, the customs
administration’s figures showed, ahead of the one percent drop forecast by a
Bloomberg News poll.
China’s economy slowed to 6.2 percent growth in the second quarter, the
slowest quarterly pace in nearly 30 years.
But it does not look to be out of the woods yet, with shrinking imports
pointing to weak demand at home.
Imports fell 5.6 percent on-year in July, contracting for the third
consecutive month — though by less than the forecast 9 percent drop.
China’s trade surplus fell to $45.1 billion for the month, from $51.0
billion in June.
The trade war with the US has escalated in recent weeks, with President
Donald Trump vowing to add 10 percent tariffs on another $300 billion worth
of Chinese imports starting on September 1, extending punitive tariffs to
nearly every product.
Beijing fired back by allowing its currency, the yuan or renminbi, to
weaken and by suspending purchases of American farm goods.
Exports to the US in July fell 6.5 percent on-year while imports dropped
19.1 percent, bringing China’s surplus with the US down slightly from June to
$28 billion in July.
“Exports still look set to remain subdued in the coming quarters as any
prop from a weaker renminbi should be overshadowed by further US tariffs and
broader external weakness,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics.
“August exports may benefit from some front-loading before the new tariffs
go into effect on September 1st, this bump will probably be smaller than it
was ahead of earlier rounds of tariffs as US port storage facilities have
little spare capacity,” he said in a note.
China’s retaliatory tariffs on soybeans and other US agricultural goods
have bruised American farmers, who have been bailed out with subsidies from
the Trump administration.
China’s customs data showed the value of its soybean imports down 17.1
percent in the first seven months of the year.
“As they have learned in the last two years, our great American Farmers
know that China will not be able to hurt them in that their President has
stood with them and done what no other president would do – And I’ll do it
again next year if necessary!” Trump tweeted on Tuesday.
BSS/AFP/HR/1100