China is Currently Selling Fewer Products to the United States Than Mexico or Canada

  |  
Aug 18, 2023

Mexico and Canada have surpassed China as the leading exporters of goods to the United States. Per a report by Bloomberg, a nearshoring campaign spearheaded by the United States has promoted more diversified supply chains in an effort to wean the American economy off of Chinese trade.

The US imported roughly $203 billion in goods from China in the first six months of 2023, which is a 25% reduction in import volume from the same period in 2022, according to the latest unadjusted figures published by the Commerce Department. These figures aren’t adjusted for inflation.

China is currently the third-largest provider of goods to the US behind Mexico and Canada. Product imports from Mexico increased by 5.4% in the first half of 2023 from a year ago. Germany and Japan follow the three aforementioned countries as the top 5 exporting nations to the US.

In the last decade or so, China has been the US’s leading supplier of goods to the US. However, bilateral trade is now deteriorating due to the growing split between the US and China over issues concerning fair trade,  human rights, and competition for technology and markets.

US consumers have grown more anti-China in terms of their product spending over the last few years, which has contributed to this gradual decoupling of the American economy from China. In a similar vein, supply chain problems that emerged throughout the Wuhan virus have prompted US policymakers to pursue more diversified supply chains. As a result, the US is increasing more of its imports from its partners in the north and south. 

Such measures are a much more proactive way of dealing with China than pursuing the neoconservative/neoliberal interventionist military confrontation approach. Add in some immigration restriction, and the US will have a solid America First approach to contain Chinese influence without having to go to war with it. This is a much more sensible way of dealing with the China question without having the US stumble into a geopolitical calamity of epic proportions. 

Our Latest Articles