China is expected to come down from its position as the “No. 1 importer of the United States” for the first time in 15 years. China has maintained its No. 1 position since it became the No. 1 importer of the U.S. in 2009, but it is expected to fall to No. 3 in the first half of this year (January to June). The aftermath of the U.S. decoupling policy to China is becoming a reality.
The Nikkei reported on the 13th that the U.S. imported USD 169 billion from China between January and May this year, down 25% from the same period last year. During the same period, China’s share of total U.S. imports fell 3.3 percentage points to 13.4 percent, the lowest in 19 years.
During the same period, the U.S. imports from Mexico reached a record high of $195 billion, ranking first overall. Canada also overtook China with 176 billion dollars. Based on this, Nikkei predicted that China is likely to finish third even at the end of the first half of this year.
China has maintained its No. 1 position as importer for 15 years since it overtook Canada as the No. 1 importer of the United States in 2009. China’s share of U.S. imports rose to about 20% between 2015 and 2018, but has been on the decline since 2017 as the former Donald Trump administration announced a revival of U.S. manufacturing. The former Trump administration has imposed retaliatory tariffs on Chinese imports. President Joe Biden, who was elected afterwards, also started decoupling with China by regulating semiconductor exports to China.
To respond to this, China is turning to the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) market. According to Chinese trade statistics, exports to the United States in the first half of this year fell 17% from the same period last year, while ASEAN increased 2%, making it China’s largest export destination.