China’s Trade Surplus Climbs Past $1 Trillion for First Time - The New York Times
President Trump’s tariffs weren’t enough to hold back the global export flood by China, which pushed past last year’s record in just 11 months.
Tariffs imposed by President Trump on China have caused Chinese exports to the United States to drop by nearly a fifth. But China has throttled back its purchases of American soybeans and other products by almost the same rate, continuing to sell three times as much to the United States as it buys.
China’s Weak Currency Is Powering Its Exports and Drawing Criticism - The New York Times
China’s renminbi is lagging the currencies of key trading partners, making Chinese goods and services cheap and helping to drive exports.
The currency remains one of the biggest — and most sensitive — issues in China’s economy. It takes about 7.1 renminbi to buy a single dollar these days. That weakness has powered China’s exports to remarkable heights. Made-in-China goods are cheaper, too: A OnePlus 15 smartphone is $999 in the United States and $692 in China. A BYD Seal plug-in hybrid car sells for $15,500 inside China, including computer-assisted driving, and about $50,000 elsewhere.
