Chinese Exports, Imports Boom in October, Despite US Trade War
The U.S.-China trade debacle has yet to cease, but according to a CNBC report on Nov. 1, Chinese exports and imports flourished in October, reaching a trade surplus of $31.78 billion with the U.S. Despite economists' predictions of an overall $35 billion trade surplus, the country's General Administration of Customs reported it was nearly $1 billion less.
Chinese exports and imports improved over October 2017's numbers, rising 15.6% and 21.4%, respectively. In a Reuters poll, economists predicted only an 11% growth in the country's exports in addition to a mere 14% growth in imports.
"Many economists say the phenomenon is mostly due to exports benefiting from increased orders before the tariff's hit, but the figures are likely to show stress in the months ahead," CNBC states.
"The government would say confidence is the issue and the trade war is the trigger, so that's why we should blame the trade war," added Independent Economist Andy Xie in an interview with CNBC. "It's an excuse to not do anything (to solve the problem, and) rather to frame this as part of the big trade war."
Year-over-year, September's export and import numbers in China weren't as successful as last month's results; however, they did improve over 2017, growing 14.5% and 14.3%, respectively.
—Andrew Michaels, editorial associate
