FxWirePro: Keep watch of U.S.-China goods trade balance in 2018/19

Since the inauguration, President Trump and his team have taken up steps to counter American widening trade deficit with the rest of the world, most notably China. U.S. Commerce Department over the past years significantly ramped up countervailing and anti-dumping investigations with regard to mal-practices in trade and many of them have been on Chinese goods. In addition to that, President Trump has ordered the Commerce Department to find if importing metals like Aluminum, and Steel and their byproducts hurt national security. The Commerce Department has recently submitted the findings to the President. In addition to that President Trump has also ordered an investigation into China’s IPO laws, which could result in billions of dollars in fine.

Trump administration’s tough stance on China makes the U.S./China goods trade balance a must watch for 2018 and 2019, to assess whether it is having an impact or not. The chart shows China’s goods trade balance with the United States, which has ballooned since China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001.