CHINA’S trade surplus with the United States widened to a record US$31.05 billion in August, compared with US$28.09 billion in July, customs data showed Saturday.

The amount surpassed the previous record of US$28.93 billion set in June.

For the January-August period, China’s trade surplus with the United States was US$192.64 billion, compared with about US$167.94 billion in the same period last year.

Even with U.S. tariffs targeting US$50 billion of Chinese exports in effect for their first full month in August, China’s exports to the United States still rose 13.4 percent to US$44.4 billion, ticking up from July’s 13.3-percent growth, according to customs data.

Imports of U.S. goods rose 11.1 percent to US$13.3 billion, decelerating from the previous month’s 11.8 percent.

“There is still an impact from front-loading of exports, but the main reason [for still-solid export growth] is strong growth in the U.S. economy,” said Zhang Yi, an economist at Zhonghai Shengrong Capital Management.

Zhang said the impact from U.S. tariffs on China’s exports would likely be limited over the next few months.

While China’s trade surplus with the United States grew again, it remained stable with the rest of the world at US$27.9 billion in August.

China’s global exports increased by 9.8 percent while its imports rose by 20 percent compared to the same month last year, according to customs data.

The figures were well below July’s performance, when exports had jumped 12.2 percent and imports grew 27 percent.

Exports are one of China’s key growth drivers, and a loss of momentum will pile more pressure on its cooling economy and global trade.

Analysts polled previously had forecast shipments from the world’s largest exporter would rise 10.1 percent in August from a year earlier, and they had expected imports to rise 18.7 percent.

China’s exports have been resilient to several rounds of tit-for-tat tariffs so far, possibly as companies rush out shipments before the stiffer U.S. duties go into force, but factories have been reporting shrinking export orders for several months.

(SD-Agencies)