China says its April trade surplus was $13.84 billion, far below expectations

FAN Editor

Cars wait for shipping overseas at Lianyungang Port on February 14, 2019 in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province of China.

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China’s overall trade surplus posted a big miss in April, coming in at $13.84 billion, customs data showed — far lower than the $35 billion economists polled by Reuters had expected.

Dollar-denominated exports also missed expectations in April, falling 2.7 percent from a year ago, according to data from the China’s General Administration of Customs on Wednesday. They were expected to have risen 2.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the economists.

April imports meanwhile rose 4 percent from a year ago, compared to a decline of 3.6 percent that economists expected. Imports in March fell 7.6 percent.

The data released on Wednesday came as the trade impasse between the U.S. and China continues to drag on, and as Washington threatens to up tariffs on more Chinese imports at the end of the week.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told reporters that the U.S. will increase levies on Chinese imports on Friday.

His comments came after U.S. President Donald Trump’s tweeted that current tariffs of 10% on $200 billion of Chinese goods would be raised to 25% on Friday. Trump also threatened to impose an extra 25% levy on another $325 billion of Chinese goods “shortly.”

The latest developments sent markets across the globe reeling, amid earlier indications and optimism that the U.S. and China were close to ending their protracted trade war. Just last month, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told The New York Times that negotiations were in the “final laps. “

— CNBC’s Eustance Huang and Reuters contributed to the report.

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