US exports of products to China have been on an upward trend since 2020, after falling for two continuous years.
First, foreign sales of US goods to the Chinese market fell 7% in 2018 and then fell 11% in 2019.
But in 2020, US exports to that destination grew 17 percent.
Finally, these sales advanced 52.7% in the period from January to April 2021, to reach 46.574 million dollars.
All these percentages are expressed in year-on-year terms.
US exports
The United States‘ current account deficit, the broadest measure of net exports to the rest of the world, rose to $ 647 billion in 2020, from $ 480 billion in 2019, an increase of 35 percent.
The current account deficit widened significantly due to the pandemic.
Although trade flows began to recover after a major shock in the second quarter, imports increased faster than exports, widening the deficit.
The United States has maintained a surplus in net exports of services but a deficit in goods over time.
According to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), this structure affected the trade balance in 2020, as the pandemic forced a change in consumer spending from services to goods.
In all of 2020, US exports of products to the world totaled 1.4 trillion dollars and fell 13% at an annual rate.
In that same year, the following shipments to China stood out: soybeans (14,200 million dollars), integrated circuits (10,200 million), petroleum oils (6,800 million) and cars (6,100 million).
The contraction of real GDP in 2020 in the United States (-3.5%) reflected decreases in personal consumption expenditures, exports, investment in private inventories, non-residential fixed investment, and state and local government, which were partially offset by increases in federal government spending and residential fixed investment.
Imports, which are a subtraction in the GDP calculation, decreased.