China’s global trade balance swung to a rare deficit in March as exports shrank but its surplus with the United States, the center of a worsening dispute with Washington, stood at $15.4 billion.
Exports contracted 2.7 percent from a year earlier to $174.1 billion in a possible sign of weak global demand, down from the 24.4 percent growth for the first two months of 2018, customs data showed Friday.
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Imports rose 14.4 percent to $179.1 billion, though that was down from 21.7 percent growth in January and February in a possible indication of slower Chinese demand.
The trade surplus with the United States contracted 13 percent from a year earlier, while China’s global trade balance swung to a $5 billion deficit.
China routinely runs multibillion-dollar monthly surpluses with Europe and the U.S., which helps to offset deficits with Japan, South Korea and developing countries that supply industrial components and raw materials.
President Donald Trump has approved a possible tariff hike on $50 billion of Chinese goods in response to complaints Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology.
Beijing faces mounting pressure from Washington and Europe over complaints over trade barriers and that Chinese exports of unfairly low-priced steel and some other goods are threatening jobs abroad.
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Trump is demanding that Beijing take steps to narrow its trade deficit with the U.S., which Washington says stood at a record $375.2 billion last year.
