Trade Deficit With China Keeps Growing Despite Tariffs

The Peterson Institute for International Economic notes US Trade Deficit with China Keeps Growing, Even with Tariffs.

Despite the Trump administration’s penalty tariffs on China, the US goods trade deficit with the country is 10 percent higher than it was in 2017, projected to reach $413 billion in 2018. The US-China trade war has not prevented Chinese firms from sending more shipments to the United States. Total US imports from China are up 6 percent from 2017, while US exports to China are down 5 percent. The global US goods trade deficit is up 10 percent from last year, with China’s share of the deficit remaining constant.

Imports from China are up, exports to China down, especially soybeans and other agricultural goods.

I have posted third quarter numbers previously, so this development is no surprise. Peterson did provide a 4th quarter estimate that I have not seen.