China’s April Trade Surplus Disappoints

China’s trade surplus painted a sorry picture for April, coming at $13.84 billion, significantly below March’s figure of $32.65 billion. Economists were expecting a figure of $35 billion.

What’s encouraging, however, is that China’s trade surplus with the US went up to $21.01 billion during April. In March, it was at $20.5 billion. But if the US goes ahead with the latest round of tariff hike, this growth may not continue in the near future.

Dollar-denominated exports fell 2.7 percent in April, missing economists’ expectations for an increase by 2.3 percent during this period. Imports also rose by 4 percent in April, beating expectations for a 3.6 percent decline and March’s 7.6 percent decline.