US Exports Jumped By $212 Billion But China Trade Deficit Grew To $187 Billion

Exports from the United States jumped by 1.3% to $212.6 billion in July, according to new data from the United States Commerce Department. However, the trade deficit with China remained large and in fact grew by several billion dollars.

The new Commerce Department data indicates that U.S. exporters may be benefiting from a rival of global demand for goods. Thanks to this boost, the trade deficit fell 4.3% in July after surging to the record $73.2 billion that it reached in June. In July, U.S. exports jumped 1.3% to $212.6 billion, but imports slid slightly by 0.2% to $282.9 billion.

A trade deficit is the gap between what a country exports to the rest of the world and the imports it purchases from other countries. For decades now, the U.S. has run a trade deficit with China and it continued to widen in July. The goods deficit with China rose 2.9% in July from June to $28.6 billion and totals $187.2 billion through the first seven months of this year, up 15% from the same period a year ago, according to ABC News.

Trade with China, while critical for many U.S.-based importers and exporters alike, is a politically contentious matter. Since its U.S.-backed entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Dec. 2001, it has been blamed for over 3 million U..S. jobs losses across the manufacturing and technology sectors. Former President Donald Trump ran on a platform that featured sharp critiques of the U.S.-China trade relationship in 2016. Under Trump, the U.S. launched a barrage of tariffs against Chinese goods in a bid to encourage Beijing to reform what Washington considers unfair trade practices.

China retaliated by hitting U.S. goods with tariffs of its own and taking action within the WTO. Last September, the WTO ruled that up to $200 billion in tariffs by the Trump administration against China were illegal under the organization’s rules. Trump responded by threatening to exit the WTO.

The Biden administration has eased somewhat the policies of its predecessor by promising to review the China tariffs while also easing the confrontational approach to the WTO. However, companies are expressing frustration that the new administration has not made any significant moves on trade policy. The slow pace of action from the White House has prompted some to complain that Biden has not done enough to distinguish his approach on trade with China from Trump’s.