Tariff War Realigning Global Trade Flows

The US-China trade war is showing early signs of a realignment in global trade flows—including more Chinese exports being redirected to India, raising alarm among experts, even as India's shipments to the US surged.

- Dhirendra Kumar

NEW DELHI:

China's exports to the US plummeted 34.5% year-on-year to $28.8 billion in May from $44 billion a year earlier, show data released by China's General Administration of Customs on 10 June.

This, however, was offset by China's rising exports, including to members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (up 15% year-on-year to $58.4 billion in May), and the European Union (up 12% to $49.5 billion), the data showed. As per data released by India's commerce ministry on 16 June, India's imports from China rose 21.7% to $10.32 billion in May from $8.48 billion a year earlier, driven by higher inflows of electronic goods, machinery, chemicals, and project-related equipment.