Investing Curiouscatblog

China Exports Exceed USA Exports

Written by

John Hunter

in

You might think that China has been exporting more than the USA but you would be wrong. As Brad Setser discusses in, China tops the US — at least in the goods exporting league table, in August (which is a bit misleading – USA exports are seasonally adjusted, China’s are not) China exported more than the USA. He predicts that next year China will export more than the USA for the first time.

Suffice to say that if you asked me in the fall of 2004 if Chinese exports would be growing at a 30% y/y rate in the fall of 2006, I would have said no. And if you asked me in the fall of 2004 if China could double its reserves – China will soon reveal that they have increased from around $500b at the end of q3 2004 to about $1,000b at the end of q3 2006 – and also bring its inflation rate down, I would have said no.

That calls into question my credibility. China has a great capacity to surprise.

He is right, China continues to surprise. However, don’t forget that the USA is still by far the largest manufacturer in the world (more than double China). And Japan still manufactures more than China too (though that is probably getting very close).

Related: Manufacturing Value Added Economic Data – Manufacturing Jobs Data: USA and China

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More posts