Trade between the US and China reached a record high in 2022, despite strained diplomatic relations between the countries. US President Joe Biden referred to the relationship with China during his State of the Union address.
Import and export on line USA – China in 2022 amounted to 690.6 billion dollars – according to official data. US imports of Chinese goods rose to $536.8 billion last year as American consumers spent more on Chinese-made goods, including toys and mobile phones, the BBC reported. During the same period, U.S. exports of goods to China rose to $153.8 billion.
The BBC pointed out that while the increase in trade between the US and China is partly the result of the rising cost of living, the figures also show how the two countries are very dependent on each other, even after years of trade conflict.
“I think this is an important clue to the difficulties of effectively separating trade (between countries),” Deborah Elms, founder of the Asian Trade Center, told the BBC. “Even if governments, businesses and consumers wanted to separate, the economy makes it difficult to deliver products in a separated world at a price that businesses and consumers are willing to pay.”
US President Joe Biden on relations with China
Tensions between Washington and Beijing have increased in recent days after a Chinese balloon flew over the United States. The suspected observation balloon was shot down on Saturday.
The discovery of the balloon caused a diplomatic crisis – US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in connection with this “irresponsible act”, as the balloon flight over the territory of the United States was called, he canceled a weekend visit to China, the first one met at such a high level in years.
He spoke on Tuesday before the US Congress about relations with China US president Joe Biden during his annual State of the Union address. – Before I stayed president of the United States, China was gaining power and our country was in decline. It’s not like that anymore. I made it clear to the Chinese president that we want competition but not conflict, so we will not apologize for investing to make our country strong,” Biden said.
– We invest in American innovation, in industries that will define the future. And that’s where the Chinese government would like to dominate. So we invest in our alliances to protect our advanced technologies together. So that no one can use them against us.
In Biden’s estimation, the US “is in the strongest position in decades to rival China or anyone in the world.” At the same time, he emphasized that he was committed to cooperation with China “where it can serve the interests of the United States and the benefits of the world.” But let no one have any illusions. As we made clear last week, if China threatens our sovereignty, we will take action to protect our country, and we have done so.
The BBC’s portal reminded that the world’s two largest economies have been in a fierce trade war since 2018, when the then US president Donald Trump began imposing tariffs on China.
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