Thread: China's July Trade Surplus $25.3 Billion

China's July Trade Surplus $25.3 Billion

Monday, August 11, 2008 4:30 AM



BEIJING -- China's trade surplus swelled in July to its highest level in eight months as its trade gaps with the United States and Europe grew despite concern about weaker global demand, according to data reported Monday.

Export growth rebounded in July, the customs agency said, after a June slowdown prompted Beijing to boost tax rebates for struggling textile exporters.

"Though we expect a continued deterioration as the year goes on, as American and European consumers stay at home, the resilience of demand for China's exports is still remarkable," said Standard Chartered economist Stephen Green in a report to clients.

China's global trade surplus in July was $25.3 billion, the agency said, up 4 percent from the same month in 2007.

Exports in July soared by 26.9 percent to $136.7 billion, the data showed. That came after export growth fell in June to 18.2 percent, down from May's 28 percent rate. Imports in July also grew strongly, rising by 33 percent to $111.4 billion.

The trade gap has strained relations with China's trading partners, fueling demands for action on currency controls and barriers to imports and investment. Some American lawmakers are calling for punitive tariffs on Chinese goods if Beijing fails to act.

Demand for Chinese exports is expected to soften as the effects of the U.S. credit crisis spread. But developing economies, key markets for Chinese-made machinery, trucks and other industrial goods, are still relatively strong.

China's trade surplus with the United States widened by 13.8 percent over the year-earlier period to $16.4 billion, according to customs data. The surplus with the 27-nation European Union, China's biggest trading partner, ballooned by 22.9 percent to $15.

Exporters have suffered from a rise in China's currency, the yuan, against the dollar, which makes their goods more expensive in the United States. But the yuan is falling against the euro, making their exports more attractive to European consumers.

Chinese leaders are trying to narrow the trade gap to reduce the flood of money that is pouring into the economy and adding to pressure for prices to rise. They have cut export-related tax rebates and imposed curbs on sales of goods such as steel and plastic that are considered too dirty or energy-intensive to produce.

But the government raised rebates of value-added taxes on textile exporters after foreign sales fell 4.2 percent in June. Planners are believed to be looking at similar targeted measures to help other struggling export industries.

The July monthly surplus was China's highest since November, when the country recorded a trade gap of $26.3 billion.

http://moneynews.newsmax.com/economy/ch ... 20813.html

That's right folks, keep buy lead laden toys for your little ones. If they are putting it in toys, imagine the toxins that go into the small appliances and cookware you use.

Many of the tools that are made in china give of radiation. This was reported on ABC News not so long ago.

Buy American and watch how our country improves.