Tariff war clouds, EU trade surplus with US continues to expand

The latest data released by the EU statistical office on June 13 showed that despite the tariff threats from Trump, the EU's trade surplus with the US continued to expand in April this year. Meanwhile, the EU's export volume to China has fallen for the ninth consecutive month.

According to the data from the EU statistical office, the overall commodity trade surplus of the EU in April this year was 7.4 billion euros, showing a significant decrease compared to 12.7 billion euros in the same period last year. Among them, the trade surplus scale with countries such as the UK, Switzerland, and Mexico has decreased, while the trade deficit scale with countries such as China, Norway, and South Korea has increased.

The export value of machinery products and automobiles from the EU to other regions of the world fell by 4.3% year-on-year, and the exports of raw materials and energy products also decreased. However, the export value of food, beverages, and chemicals increased compared to the previous year.

In contrast to the overall trend of the EU's shrinking surplus: the EU's commodity trade surplus with the US has continued to expand for the 16th consecutive month since January last year. However, compared to previous months, the growth rate has decreased. In particular, in March this year, due to foreign traders making transactions ahead of time before Trump raised tariffs, the EU's export volume to the US increased by 59.5% year-on-year that month.

One of President Trump's major goals in initiating the tariff war is to reduce the huge trade deficits with trade partners such as the EU and China. Since March 11 this year, the EU's exports to the US have faced a 25% steel and aluminum tariff, a 25% car tariff starting April 3, and a 25% auto parts tariff starting May 3. On June 4, the US doubled the metal tariff rate to 50%. Moreover, Trump announced a 20% "reciprocal tariff" on most EU goods on April 5, but days later announced a temporary rollback to 10% by July 8.

Source: Reuters

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1834837734035720/

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