Bangladesh’s Daily Star published a commentary piece, written by freelance contributor Mahmood Elahi:
By the end of 2006, China achieved several important milestones: It replaced the US as Japan’s biggest trading partner, it replaced Japan as America’s second biggest trading partner after Canada (for a brief period, it even replaced Canada as America’s biggest trading partner), and it replaced the US as the European Union’s biggest trading partner. And it surpassed America as the world’s second biggest trading nation after Germany.
It is also interesting to note that US-China trading is a one-sided affair. While China exported a staggering $287 billion to the US, America exported a paltry $55 billion to China, leaving a $230 billion trade surplus in China’s favour. By the end of July, China’s trade surplus for the first half of this year rose to $112.5 billion, marking the first time that it has exceeded $100 billion in a six-month period. If the economy keeps growing at this blistering pace, China’s total trade will reach more than $2 trillion this year, surpassing Germany as the world’s biggest trading nation. These would be staggering numbers anytime. As Goldman Sachs, one of America’s biggest investors put it: “This level of trade surplus is unprecedented for China or any other major economy in the world.”
It is also doubly surprising, given all the bad news about the safety of Chinese products. The U.S. and other governments are threatening to put restrictions on Chinese imports. But none of this seems to have put slightest crimp on the demand for cheap goods from China. Shoppers in the United States, Canada, and other Western nations continue to snap up televisions, computers, cameras, shoes, garments, and toys that flow in an ever-swelling caravan of container ships from China. [Full Text]
