China’s exports were surprisingly significantly increased in March – probably driven out of fear of an escalation of the trade conflict with the United States. The concerns grow among dealers in China.
The US government has recently been misusing tariffs, according to Wang Lingjun from the Chinese customs authority at the presentation of the latest foreign trade figures. This has a negative impact on global trade, including America and China.
But in March China’s exports were able to grow again – by 12.4 percent compared to the same month of the previous year. The exports were probably driven for fear of an escalation of the trade dispute with the USA. Chinese companies apparently tried to create many out of the country before the tariffs continue to rise. China’s imports, on the other hand, declined by 3.5 percent in March.
Return probably out of fear of US consumers
In the meantime, the leadership of the People’s Republic welcomed that the United States from the additional import duties of 145 percent. The Ministry of Commerce in Beijing said that it was a first small step to correct a big mistake. The Ministry asked the US government to completely abolish the additional tariffs.
The United States has excluded electronic goods such as smartphones and computers from the massive import duties for Chinese products. Exceptions should also apply to processors and microchips. The US government is apparently responding to fears that electronic devices could become significantly more expensive for US consumers.
China’s reaction underestimated?
The government in Washington may have been surprised that the communist leadership would not give in. China had reacted to President Donald Trump’s tariffs with counter -tariffs of 125 percent.
It is unclear whether the US side understood how convinced in China by the confrontation course, analyzes Mareike Ohlberg from the US Think Tank German Marshall Fund. Overall, China is in a weaker position in the case of opposites, but “also willing to bear certain costs and not add smaller as quickly,” says Ohlberg.
China can easily avoid imports
The People’s Republic imports much less from the United States than it exports to the United States. Customs meet China harder than the opposite side. Nevertheless: China imports large quantities of US agricultural products. In order to keep the price increases low in Germany, China’s leadership can switch to other countries.
In contrast, the United States cannot easily buy many products that China produces. The consequences are increasing prices in the USA and falling demand from manufacturers in China.
Great fear from smaller dealers
The pressure on the Chinese dealers is increasing, says Wang Xin, Chair of Shenzhen Cross-Border E-Commerce Association: “We observe that some small companies are starting to worry about their situation. Since they cannot sell their products, they are under pressure from the banks, they have to pay wages and suppliers.” She assumes that the situation will become even more dramatic in the future.
The association represents several thousand sellers who, among other things, sell to the USA via the US platform Amazon. So far, packages with goods values of up to $ 800 have been sent to the United States. Trump has announced that this regulation also abolish.
