Trade War Causes $31 Billion Drop in Chinese Imports

While U.S. imports of goods climbed to a historical high of $1.27 trillion in the first half of 2019, the ongoing trade conflict with China did change the composition of imports to the United States. As the following chart, based on data released by the U.S. Census Bureau shows, imports from China dropped by more than $30 billion in the first six months of 2019.

If overall imports increased while fewer goods were coming in from China, that means other countries must have seen an increase in demand from the United States. As the following chart shows, there is no single profiteer from the U.S.-Chinese trade war, but several countries saw significant increases in exports to the United States.

Among the U.S.’s most important import partners, Vietnam saw the largest increase in demand from the States, both in absolute and in relative terms. With an increase of $7.6 billion or 33 percent, the Southeast Asian economy leapfrogged Ireland, France, India and Italy to become the 8th largest import partner for the United States.