Try as he might, US President Donald Trump cannot contain the US’ ballooning trade deficit with China.
The US trade gap in goods with the Asian power last year surged 8.1 percent to a record US$375 billion, US Department of Commerce data released on Tuesday showed.
The total goods deficit with all nations swelled by the same percentage to US$796 billion.
Trump has repeatedly complained about the US’ trade deficit with China, expressing his disappointment with the growing shortfall in a recent telephone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
The US president has threatened a host of actions to constrain China, including tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum and penalties for misuse of US intellectual property.
In his first State of the Union address last week, Trump said the “era of economic surrender is over” and promised to negotiate better trade deals, and he named China an economic rival.
China stoked tensions this week by starting an anti-subsidy and anti-dumping probe into grain sorghum from the US.
Some economists have said it would be tough to reverse the trade imbalance with China without deep reforms that change the balance between investment and saving in each country.
US Republican-backed tax cuts passed late last year might exacerbate the trade shortfall by boosting the US dollar, making US exports more expensive, and by stoking domestic demand, which would also spur imports.
Last year, the US had record imports from 47 countries, led by China.
US exports to China rose to an all-time high of US$130 billion, from US$116 billion in 2016, although it was not enough to prevent the deficit from growing.
Last year’s trade totals are not likely to soften the US position on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
The goods deficit with Mexico increased by 10 percent to US$71.1 billion, causing the country to leapfrog Germany and Japan into second place, behind China.
The goods gap with Canada surged about 60 percent to US$17.6 billion, as the US’ northern neighbor rose from 16th to 12th place.
Negotiators from the US, Mexico and Canada last month wrapped up their sixth round of talks on a new NAFTA with modest signs of progress.
However, the US goods deficit with South Korea narrowed 17 percent to US$22.9 billion, dropping the Asian nation to 10th place from eighth.
The US is also renegotiating its 2012 free-trade deal with South Korea. The Trump administration is demanding changes to improve access for US exports, including automobiles.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
RSS