Economics
Trump Is Greeted in China by a Trade Deficit as Big as Ever
- Data released Wednesday show exports held up, imports robust
- Year-to-date U.S. trade surplus on track to match 2016 level
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Donald Trump touched down in China to news on one of his favorite topics: the trade deficit. But it mightn’t be the news he’s wanting.
For the first 10 months of the year, China’s trade surplus with the U.S. was $223 billion according to Bloomberg calculations based on data released by the General Administration of Customs on Wednesday -- just before the U.S. president arrived in Beijing from Seoul. That pace should mean the full-year gap between China’s sales to the U.S. and its imports is about the same as in 2016, at around $250 billion.