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China's trade surplus narrows in August as exports unexpectedly fall YOY

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China's trade surplus narrows in August as exports unexpectedly fall YOY

China's foreign trade surplus in U.S. dollar terms narrowed in August from the previous month as exports unexpectedly fell year over year amid the country's ongoing trade dispute with the U.S., data from the country's General Administration of Customs showed.

Exports fell 1% year over year to $214.8 billion, against the consensus estimate of economists polled by Econoday of a 2.5% rise, while imports dropped 5.6% to $179.96 billion, slightly lower than expectations of a 5.7% decline. The country's trade surplus amounted to $34.84 billion in August, down from about $45 billion a month ago but up 32.5% year over year.

China's trade surplus in the January to August period grew 37.1% year over year to $259.27 billion. Exports increased 0.4% on an annual basis to $1.6 trillion, while imports fell 4.6% to $1.35 trillion.

"The additional tariffs imposed by the U.S. on Sept. 1 and those scheduled for Oct. 1 will further dampen export growth momentum," wrote Tommy Wu of Oxford Economics. He added that the domestic economy "has yet to find a firmer footing as impacts of policy easing has so far been relatively muted. This will continue to weigh on imports in the near term."

In yuan terms, the country's trade surplus climbed 41.8% year over year in August to 239.6 billion yuan. Imports fell 2.6% to 1.24 trillion yuan, while exports climbed 2.6% to 1.48 trillion yuan.

The surplus for the first eight months of 2019 grew 46% on an annual basis to 1.77 trillion yuan, with exports climbing 6.1% to 10.95 yuan and imports increasing by 0.8% to 9.18 trillion yuan.

Exports to the U.S. fell 3.7% in the first eight months of 2019 to 1.88 trillion yuan, while imports from the U.S. dropped 23.5% to 545.01 yuan. The trade surplus with the U.S. climbed 7.7% year over year to 1.33 trillion yuan.

As of Sept. 6, US$1 was equivalent to 7.12 Chinese yuan.