BEIJING —China’s exports regained some momentum in June while imports rebounded, as exporters rushed out shipments to capitalise on a fragile tariff truce between Beijing and Washington ahead of a looming August deadline.
Outbound shipments rose 5.8 percent year-on-year, beating the median forecast for 5.0 percent growth in a Reuters poll of economists.
Imports rebounded 1.1 percent, following a 3.4 percent decline in May. Economists had predicted a 1.3 percent rise.
Exports growth slowed to 4.8 percent in May after surging in March and April, as US President Donald Trump’s escalation of his trade war took a toll and the benefits from earlier front-loading faded.
Trade ties appeared to have stabilized in June after US and Chinese negotiators agreed to revive a fragile truce reached during talks in Geneva in May. The agreement had been strained before the talks by a series of export controls that disrupted supply chains for key industries on both sides of the Pacific.
But as Trump further broadens his global trade offensive with new tariffs on other partners, analysts caution that Beijing could be indirectly hurt by US pressure on third countries used heavily for transhipments of Chinese goods.
Trump had recently unveiled a 40 percent tariff on US-bound transhipments through Vietnam, a move that could undermine Chinese manufacturers looking to reroute shipments and avoid higher duties.
The US president has also threatened a 10 percent charge on imports from BRICS countries, in which China is a founding member, raising further risks for Beijing.
China faces an August 12 deadline to reach a durable deal with the White House. Compounding the challenges, tensions with the European Union have also intensified. Ahead of a key summit later this month, the EU accused China of flooding the global market with excess capacity and enabling Russia’s war economy
