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China's trade surplus with the United States hit a record high in August as the country's export growth slowed slightly, which could push President Donald Trump to step up pressure on Beijing.
The politically sensitive surplus reached $ 31.05 billion in August, up from $ 28.09 billion in July, customs statistics revealed Saturday, exceeding the record set in June.
In the first eight months of the year, China's surplus, with its largest export market, increased by nearly 15%, exacerbating tensions in trade relations between the two countries. two largest economies in the world.
China's annual export growth in August is slightly subdued to stand at 9.8%, according to data, the lowest rate since March, but slightly lower than recent trends.
The number has escaped analysts' forecasts that shipments by the world's largest exporter will increase by 10.1%, slowing only slightly to 12.2% in July.
Even with US tariffs that target $ 50 billion in Chinese exports for the first full month of August, Chinese exports to the United States continue to increase, up 13.2% from 11.2% in July.
"There is still an impact on the export front, but the main reason (for ever strong export growth) is the strong growth of the US economy," said Zhang Yi, economist at Zhonghai Shengrong Capital Management. .
Zhang said that the impact of US tariffs on Chinese exports would probably be limited in the coming months.
Chinese imports from the United States increased only 2.7% in August, down from 11.1% in July.
The world's largest trading nation has had a good start this year, but the economic outlook is clouded by the rapid rise of the US trade dispute and slowing domestic demand.
Trump raised the bar Friday, warning that he was ready to impose tariffs on almost all Chinese imports to the United States, threatening to pay $ 267 billion worth of goods in addition to the $ 200 billion worth of goods. 39, imports planned in the coming days.
Washington has long criticized China's huge trade surplus with the United States and has asked Beijing to reduce it. However, the disagreements between the two major economic powers are not limited to the simple trade balance and tensions remain on the limits of US companies' access to Chinese markets, the protection of intellectual property, transfers of technology and investment.
Imports, which are a key indicator of the strength of Chinese domestic demand, rose 20 percent, exceeding expectations. Analysts expected growth of 18.7%, down from July, with an astonishing 27.3%.
As a result, China posted an overall trade surplus of less than $ 27.91 billion for the month. Analysts were expecting the surplus to rise from $ 28.05 billion in July to $ 31.79 billion.
The surplus with the United States was larger than China's net surplus for the month, indicating that China would be in deficit if trade with the world's largest economy was excluded.
