Raw Data: Imports and Exports to China

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Monika Bauerlein,
CEO

Dear Reader,

December is make-or-break for Mother Jones’ fundraising. We have a $350,000 goal that we simply cannot afford to miss. And in "No Cute Headlines or Manipulative BS," we explain, as matter-of-fact as we can, how being a nonprofit means everything to us. Bottom line: Donations big and small make up 74 percent of our budget this year and are urgently needed this month, and all online gifts will be matched and go twice as far until we hit our goal. Please pitch in if you can right now.

December is make-or-break for Mother Jones’ fundraising, and in "No Cute Headlines or Manipulative BS," we hope that giving it to you as matter-of-fact as we can will work to raise the $350,000 we need to raise this month. Donations make up 74 percent of our budget this year, and all online gifts will be matched and go twice as far until we hit our goal.

I’m back! And I’ll bet you’ve all missed your charts this week. So here’s one for you:

I was curious to check out the overall effect of the Trump tariffs on China. As you can see, it took a few months for them to bite, but in the first three months of 2019 imports took a steep dive from about $45 billion per month to $30 billion per month. We’re definitely buying less from China thanks to Trump’s tariff on Chinese goods.

Exports to China have also declined, though it’s a little hard to see. The odd thing is that the decline began in early 2018 and doesn’t seem to have changed a lot after Trump enacted his tariffs. In any case, the drop in exports is almost 100 percent in agricultural goods, which fell by more than half between 2017 and 2018. No other sector has been strongly affected.