"China Fails to Meet 70% of Import Volume Under US-China Trade Agreement"

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] It has been revealed that China is failing to meet the import volume of U.S. products as stipulated in the Phase One trade agreement.

On the 27th (local time), U.S. economic media CNBC reported that the Peterson Institute for International Economics analyzed data from the U.S. and Chinese governments and found that although U.S.-China trade surged in the first half of this year, China did not even reach 70% of the agreed import volume of U.S. products.

Earlier, the two countries signed the Phase One trade agreement in January last year to resolve trade conflicts. According to the agreement, China committed to increasing its purchases of U.S. products by at least $200 billion during 2020?2021.

The institute stated, "China's agricultural imports reached about 90% of the agreed volume, but energy and manufactured goods fell far short of the targets." It added, "Last year, China's imports of U.S. products amounted to only 58% of the target."

Despite the U.S. attempting to resolve trade imbalances even at the risk of a trade war with China, it is pointed out that as of the end of last month, China's trade surplus with the U.S. reached $32.58 billion, the highest ever recorded.

China's imports of U.S. products in the first half of this year amounted to $87.94 billion, an increase of 55.5% compared to the same period last year and a 49.3% increase compared to the same period in 2019.

During the same period, China's exports to the U.S. totaled $252.86 billion, up 42.6% from the same period last year and 26.8% from the same period in 2019.