Trade between the United States and China is the largest bilateral in the world

Trade between the United States and China was the largest in the world in 2019 in bilateral terms, said the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The largest bilateral flows of merchandise trade in the world occur between the two countries, and between their respective neighboring economies.

In 2019, the United States imported $ 472 billion worth of goods from China. Goods worth $ 132 billion traveled in the opposite direction.

Meanwhile, China’s trade (exports and imports) with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), Japan, the Chinese province of Taiwan and the Republic of Korea amounted to 1.16 trillion dollars.

Trade between the United States and China

The United States’ trade with Mexico and Canada was worth roughly the same amount ($ 1.12 trillion).

Also, intraregional trade was more pronounced in Europe. In 2019, around 68% of all European exports went to trading partners on the same continent. In Asia, this rate was 60 percent. By contrast, in Oceania, Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa and North America, most of the trade was extra-regional.

Main world import flows, 2019 (Billions of United States dollars)

In trade between the United States and China, the administration of President Donald Trump has used the imposition of tariffs under the Section 301 investigation as the primary tool to stimulate trade negotiations with China on American concerns.

Section 301 is lowered, with five different actions, between June 2018 and September 2019, the United States has imposed tariff rates of between 10 and 25% on imports from China with an approximate value of 570,000 million dollars, with the consequent retaliation by the Chinese government.

There are certain exceptions for strategic or national security reasons requested by companies and a partial bilateral agreement.