As trade talks conclude, new data shows Chinese imports hit 5-year low

As U.S. and Chinese officials concluded trade talks this week, new data shows massive tariffs drove Chinese imports to their lowest levels in more than five years.

U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods topped out at 145% in April when the Census Bureau collected trade data that showed a continuing decline in Chinese imports from March. In May, the nations agreed to a 90-day pause in mutual triple-digit tariffs ahead of trade talks. Late on June 10, negotiatorsannounced they had reached a framework for an agreement.

Through February and March, overall imports to the U.S. hit record highs as traders anticipated rising tariffs. But under the withering tariff rates President Donald Trump announced on April 2, what he called “Liberation Day,” that overall import number plunged from more than $340 billion in March to just $273 billion in April.

“People were importing in anticipation of the imposition of tariffs. Then, when he made the Liberation Day announcement, everything collapsed,” said Marcus Noland, executive vice president and director of studies at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a think tank based in Washington, D.C. 

“China is just the best example because when the United States does something, China retaliates. And so that's why we got into the escalatory spiral and ended up with triple-digit tariffs,” Noland added. “People couldn't import. Some people literally did not have the money to pay the import tariff.”

Ocean freight volumes from China to the U.S. fell sharply in April, down 34% from a year earlier, according to Kristy Garcia-Quintela, director of ocean freight at GEODIS, a global logistics company.

“34% is pretty big,” said Garcia-Quintela, who added the U.S. demand for global ocean shipping saw a 6% decline in April compared to the same month last year. 

Besides Chinese imports dropping to a post-pandemic low, shipments from the United States’ other largest trading partners – the European Union, Mexico, and Canada – also fell in April. Purchases from the European Union, for example, dropped in April to $53 billion after surging to an all-time high just a month earlier at ​​nearly $82 billion.

Despite a partial pullback in tariffs and ongoing trade talks, the trade tensions still remain high, and experts expressed concerns about the road ahead. 

“The truly catastrophic tariffs that were announced on Liberation Day have been avoided, but it's not like everything is looking good right now,” said Noland, the economist.