US goods trade with China hits record $690b in 2022

This photo taken on January 13, 2023 shows cranes and shipping containers at Lianyungang port in China's eastern Jiangsu province. PHOTO AFP WASHINGTON - US official data showed that goods trade between the United States and China hit a record $690.6 b in 2022, indicating robust trade growth amid bilateral tensions and decoupling rhetoric.

The US Commerce Department data, which was not adjusted for inflation, showed that goods exports to China increased by $2.4 billion to $153.8 b and imports increased by $31.8 b to $536.8 b.

Trade growth between the two major economies remains robust despite the US government's decision to impose tariffs and export controls and some politicians' rhetoric to decouple from China.

ALSO READ: Decoupling can never be an option.

Since 2018, when former US president Donald Trump started a trade war with China, imposing tariffs on over 300 billion dollars worth of Chinese goods. Since taking office, current President Joe Biden has not yet made a decision to scrap any Trump-era tariffs.

William Reinsch, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, was quoted by Bloomberg as saying consumers have minds of their own. We're still doing a lot of business at the market level. Reinsch, who served as the under-secretary of commerce for export administration during the Clinton administration, said that the macro relationship hasn't changed that much, but they're still trading a lot.

ALSO READ: US can't chip away at China's tech capabilities.

The Foreign Policy magazine said that decoupling isn't going to happen in a long shot, and isn't likely to happen. It quoted US business insiders as saying that the US-China economic relationship remains deep and is growing deeper in many sectors, and that a decoupling will undermine US global competitiveness.

President of the US-China Business Council Craig Allen said earlier in the day that exports to China help a wide range of industries in the United States stay profitable and competitive.

Allen said that they also support American jobs, from the tourism industry to farmers and ranchers in Iowa, to chipmakers in Oregon, and innovative drugmakers in North Carolina.