Authors: Lisa Baertlein and Ellen Zhang
LOS ANGELES/BEIJING (Reuters) – U.S. imports from China ended the year strongly after some companies stockpiled clothing, toys, furniture and electronics ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to impose new tariffs that could reignite a trade war between the world’s economic superpowers .
Trump, who has threatened to impose tariffs of 10% to 60% on goods from China, takes office on January 20. During his first term, Trump mainly targeted Chinese parts and components. Economists and trade experts predict that his next wave of tariffs could be applied to finished goods.
“Therefore, there has been an increase in exports of final goods from China to the US, as importers seek to avoid possible tariffs on consumer goods,” said Frederic Neumann, chief Asia economist at HSBC in Hong Kong.
Chinese trade officials said on Monday that December exports rose to record levels and cited concerns over escalating trade protectionism in the US and Europe.
The equivalent of 451,000 40-foot containers of goods from China were unloaded at US seaports in December, a 14.5% increase from last year, according to a trade data provider Descartes Systems Group (NASDAQ:).
That capped a year when U.S. imports of bedding, plastic toys, machinery and other products from China rose 15% from 2023, according to Descartes.
While some U.S. retailers rushed goods to avoid falling costs from potential new tariffs, the true effect on the overall increase in imports is hard to tell because importers keep such data secret. Further complicating the analysis, resilient U.S. buyers have boosted demand and some importers have brought in safety stocks to protect against disruptions from Houthi attacks on ships near the Suez Canal trade route and labor disputes at seaports on the U.S. East Coast and Gulf of Mexico .
Trump has also promised tariffs on goods from many other countries, including North American neighbors Mexico and Canada.
As a result, several categories of U.S. imports from all geographic sources posted significant gains during the fourth quarter, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Textiles and clothing jumped 20.7%; leisure products, mainly toys, increased by 15.4%; household goods grew by 13.4%; and home appliances and consumer electronics achieved growth of 9.6% and 7.9%, respectively, according to S&P.
Consumer staples categories such as household and personal care, as well as food and beverages, rose 14.2% and 12.5%, S&P said.
