China’s first-half trade surplus with U.S. up 12% in yuan terms: customs By Reuters

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s trade surplus with the United States rose 12% in yuan-terms in the first half of this year, the customs agency said on Friday.

Exports to the U.S. fell 2.6% in yuan terms in the first six months this year from same period a year earlier, while imports shrank 25.7%, customs spokesman Li Kuiwen told reporters in a quarterly briefing.

U.S.-China trade frictions brought some pressure on China’s trade, but the impact is manageable, Li said.

June marked the first full month of higher U.S. tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods, which Washington announced weeks earlier after trade talks between the world’s largest economies broke down.

Though both sides agreed in late June to resume negotiations, and Washington said it would hold off on additional levies, existing tariffs remain in place.