China’s Exports to U.S. Plunge, in Sign of Bite From Trump Tariffs
The drop in U.S.-bound shipments was offset by a surge in Chinese goods to Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America
By Hannah Miao
Updated May 9, 2025
China said exports to the U.S. plunged in April, as the Trump administration’s tariff assault forced the world’s second-largest economy to redirect more of its goods to Southeast Asia, Latin America, Europe and Africa.
Overall, China said its export growth demonstrated surprising resilience last month, with the headline figure showing exports rising 8.1% in dollar-denominated terms in April from a year earlier.
But beneath that rosy number was a marked shift in the composition of outbound shipments from China, which has spent the past three decades building up its status as the world’s factory floor.
Chinese shipment of goods to the U.S. dropped 21% in April from a year earlier, while exports to the bloc of Southeast Asian nations known as Asean surged 21%, according to official trade figures released Friday by China’s General Administration of Customs. Exports to Latin America jumped 17%, while shipments to Africa soared 25%, the data showed. Chinese exports to the European Union rose 8.3%.
The figures underscore the degree to which U.S. tariffs on China, which have been cranked up by 145% in President Trump’s first three months in office, have altered the global trade map.
U.S. and Chinese officials are set to meet in Switzerland this weekend to talk, potentially paving the way for broader trade negotiations. Both U.S. and Chinese officials have indicated that the key objective for the weekend meeting is to de-escalate tensions amid what some White House officials have described as a total trade embargo between the two countries.
The figures for April represent China’s first release of official trade numbers since Trump ratcheted up tariffs on all Chinese goods by a cumulative 125% in a series of actions throughout April, on top of 20% levies placed on the country for its role in the fentanyl trade. Later in the month, he exempted smartphones and other electronics goods, many of which are made in China.
China imposed a 125% across-the-board tariff on U.S. goods in retaliation.
In March, Chinese shipments to the U.S. had risen 9.1% from a year earlier, in what was likely an attempt to get ahead of the tariff increases that Trump had telegraphed for early April. Overall, Chinese exports to the U.S. during the first four months of the year fell 2.5% from the same period in 2024.
April’s headline export growth of 8.1% marked a slowdown from the 12.4% year-over-year rate reported in March, but it far outpaces the 2.5% growth rate that economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected.
Economists expect China’s exports to be impacted further in the coming months. A gauge of new export orders fell in April to its lowest reading since 2022. Goldman Sachs and S&P Global project that China’s exports could fall 5% this year.
Such a contraction would make it harder for China to meet its official target for gross domestic product to grow by about 5% this year. Last year, exports made up roughly one-third of China’s GDP growth, according to official data. Many economists are expecting China’s GDP growth this year to be closer to 4% or lower.
As the picture darkens for Chinese trade, the country’s central bank unveiled new measures on Wednesday designed to bolster the economy, the first concrete efforts from Beijing to support growth since Trump’s tariffs hit in April. The central bank said it would cut interest rates and inject more liquidity into the financial system. Beijing late last month pledged to implement measures to counter the challenge from the tariffs.
Meanwhile, trade talks have started to move forward after what appeared to be a prolonged standoff. Beijing’s outreach to Washington over fentanyl created an opening for trade talks between the two nations, the Journal has reported.
U.S. companies are complaining about soon-to-be empty store shelves, while factories in China are pausing production and some are putting workers on leave. Goldman Sachs has estimated that 16 million jobs in China are involved in the production of exports to the U.S., which would be jeopardized by a prolonged trade impasse.
The full tariff blow hasn’t yet shown up in China’s official economic statistics. Government data show China’s economy expanded 5.4% in the first three months of the year, boosted by a rush of exports as companies frontloaded orders in anticipation of higher tariffs.
Some analysts think China’s overall exports might yet remain resilient as some Chinese manufacturers look to other countries to reroute U.S.-bound goods to, especially countries that are currently enjoying a 90-day pause on “reciprocal” tariffs from the U.S. China’s exports to countries such as Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia surged by 23%, 28% and 37% respectively in April, compared with a year earlier.
At Dongguan City Jiaheng Toys, which makes products like frisbees and wiffle balls, U.S.-bound orders have more than halved for goods made in the company’s Chinese factories, while demand to move production to the manufacturer’s Vietnam factory has increased, according to salesperson Tian Jing.
The manufacturer opened a factory in northern Vietnam in 2020 in response to tariffs during Trump’s first term. Now, Jiaheng Toys is building a bigger factory to move more manufacturing to Vietnam. The facility is expected to be finished around August.
For Sanmei Group, a maker of artificial plants and home decor with factories in southern China, orders from U.S. clients have been put on hold almost entirely, according to Cora Lei, a business manager. Those U.S. customers are asking Sanmei to move production to Vietnam, where the company is currently setting up a factory.
“It prompted us to speed up our operation,” said Lei of the tariffs.
In a sign of persistent weakness in domestic demand, China’s imports slipped 0.2% in April from the year prior, compared with a 4.3% drop in March.
That put China’s trade surplus at $96.18 billion in April, narrowing from the previous month’s $102.64 billion surplus.
Grace Zhu and Xiao Xiao contributed to this article.
Write to Hannah Miao at hannah.miao@wsj.com
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