China’s exports grow at a faster pace amid US tariffs threat

Rises 10.7% in December as against the same period last year, beats estimates

Hong Kong: China’s exports in December grew at a faster pace than expected, as factories rushed to fill orders to beat higher tariffs that US President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose once he takes office.

Exports rose 10.7% from a year earlier. Economists had forecast they would grow about 7%. Imports rose 1% year-on-year. Analysts had expected imports to shrink about 1.5%.

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Trump has pledged to raise tariffs on Chinese goods and close some loopholes that exporters now use to sell their products more cheaply in the US. If enacted, his plans would likely raise prices in America and squeeze sales and profit margins for Chinese exporters. With exports outpacing imports, China’s trade surplus grew to $104.84 billion.

China’s exports are likely to remain strong in the near-term, said Zichun Huang of Capital Economics, as businesses try to “front-run” potentially higher tariffs. “Outbound shipments are likely to stay resilient in the near-term, supported by further gains in global market share thanks to a weak real effective exchange rate,” she wrote in a note. But exports will likely weaken later in the year if Trump follows through on his threat to impose tariffs, Huang said.