exports

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They Bet on China's Durian Appetite. Then Came a Twist

Chinese consumers now want fresh fruit, not frozen, and Malaysian prices are cratering

(Newser) - Malaysian durian growers spent years banking on China's love for the spiky, pungent fruit. Now that bet is backfiring. The New York Times reports that while China's appetite for durian hasn't faded, its preferences have: buyers increasingly want fresh fruit, not the frozen versions that Malaysia scaled...

Trade Deficit Is Near Record High Despite Tariffs

It dropped just 0.2% last year

(Newser) - In a Truth Social post Wednesday night, President Trump said his tariffs had brought down the trade deficit by 78%, but government figures released the next day told a very different story. According to the Commerce Department, the gap between goods and services sold to the US and what it...

China's Trade Surplus Rewrites the Record Books
China's Trade Surplus
Rewrites the Record Books
the rundown
Jan 14, 2026 8:34 AM CST

China's Trade Surplus Rewrites the Record Books

Figure hit $1.19T in 2025

(Newser) - China just logged a trade gap so big it rewrites the record books: a $1.19 trillion surplus in 2025, the largest ever reported even after adjusting for inflation. Beijing's customs agency said the surplus—the difference between what China sells abroad and what it buys—jumped 20% from...

US Trade Gap Takes a Steep Downward Turn

To its lowest level since 2009, as gold exports surge, pharmaceutical imports plunge amid tariffs

(Newser) - Traders weren't the only ones caught off guard by October's trade numbers. The US trade gap dropped to $29.4 billion in October, its smallest reading since 2009 and about half what Wall Street economists had penciled in, per the Wall Street Journal . Imports fell to $331.4...

China's Economy Just Did What No Economy Has Done

Its trade surplus now exceeds $1T

(Newser) - China just registered an unprecedented economic milestone: Its trade surplus has risen above $1 trillion—a first for any country, reports the Wall Street Journal . New data from China's customs agency shows exports rose 5.4% to $3.4 trillion in the first 11 months of the year, while...

Canada Loses Spot as Top Buyer of US Goods

Mexico now leads in US exports, imports, and total trade

(Newser) - Mexico has overtaken Canada as the largest buyer of US goods, marking the first time in nearly 30 years that Canada has not held the top spot, according to new data from the US Commerce Department. The figures highlight a significant shift in North American trade dynamics, with Mexico and...

It's a Sign Things Are Getting Worse Between China, Japan

China on Wednesday halted recently restarted seafood imports from Japan

(Newser) - Japan in early November resumed exporting seafood to China—but those shipments look to be short-lived. As tensions rise between the two countries over new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's Nov. 7 comments about potential military action against China if Taiwan were to be attacked, China on Wednesday said...

China Has a Major Domestic Spending Problem

Consumer-goods subsidies haven't made much of an impact

(Newser) - China's economy has a new problem: its own consumers. While global shoppers are snapping up Chinese goods at record rates despite tariffs and trade tensions, Chinese citizens themselves are keeping their wallets closed, the New York Times reports. The result is an economy increasingly reliant on exports, even as...

China Imported No US Soybeans Last Month

Tariffs and trade tension push China to Brazil and Argentina

(Newser) - China imported no soybeans from the US in September, marking the first time in nearly seven years that shipments from American farmers to their largest foreign customer have dropped to zero, Reuters reports. The drop, which highlights the ongoing trade rift between the world's two largest economies, is the...

US Puts an End to Haiti's Trade Lifeline

Textile imports to the US are no longer duty-free

(Newser) - Haiti is teetering on the brink—and things just got worse. The US on Wednesday let a key trade program expire, one that allowed duty-free imports to the US of Haitian-made textiles. The end of the HOPE/HELP initiative, in place since 2006, effectively pulls the rug from under Haiti'...

US Soybean Farmers Are in a Very Bad Spot

Tariffs and ensuing boycott put Midwest family farms under pressure

(Newser) - American soybean farmers are facing a severe challenge as China, historically their largest customer, has halted purchases in retaliation for US tariffs on Chinese goods. For farmers like Josh and Jordan Gackle of North Dakota, this marks the first time in their farm's 76-year history that China isn'...

Trump's 50% Tariff Hike on India Goes Into Effect

New tariffs of up to 50% threaten Indian exports, put millions of jobs at risk

(Newser) - President Trump's decision to double tariffs on Indian imports to rates as high as 50% took effect on Wednesday, putting a major strain on US-India relations at a time when the two nations have been deepening strategic ties. The move, in part a response to India's continued...

China Sees $500B Trade Surplus by Redirecting Exports

It's sending goods to Southeast Asia, Europe, Latin America instead of to the US amid steep tariffs

(Newser) - China is once again shaking up global trade, but this time the disruption isn't hitting the United States directly. After being squeezed by President Trump's tariffs, Chinese factories are redirecting exports—everything from toys to electric vehicles—to markets in Southeast Asia, Europe, and Latin America. The...

In Run-Up to Tariff Jump, China's Economy Surged

Gross domestic product grew 5.4%

(Newser) - China's economy showed surprisingly strong growth in the three months before tariffs began ramping up in earnest. The country's GDP growth hit 5.4% in the first quarter of 2025, according to official data released Wednesday, surpassing the 5.1% expected by economists polled by Reuters and...

China Retaliates After US Sanctions

Beijing bans exports to the US of minerals used in semiconductors

(Newser) - The US Commerce Department received a swift response to its latest round of export controls meant to "impair" China's chipmaking industry. Shortly after the restrictions were announced Sunday, Beijing banned exports to the US of critical minerals used in military and civilian applications, including gallium, germanium, and antimony,...

In California, an 'Explosion' in Pistachios

Pistachio crops are booming, with much of them headed to China

(Newser) - In a sprawling plant in the heart of California's farmland, millions of shells rush down a metallic chute and onto a conveyor belt where they're inspected, roasted, packaged, and shipped off to groceries around the world. Pistachios are growing fast in California, where farmers have been devoting more...

Japan Is No Longer the No. 1 Auto Exporter
Japan Is No Longer
the No. 1 Auto Exporter
the rundown
Jan 9, 2024 11:22 AM CST

Japan Is No Longer the No. 1 Auto Exporter

China takes the title with its surging industry

(Newser) - Japan has long been the world's top exporter of automobiles, but that reign is now over. China has overtaken it for the No. 1 spot, and it's no blip—Beijing's lead is expected to "solidify" in 2024, reports the South China Morning Post . The Wall Street ...

There's an 'Animal Welfare Disaster' You Don't Know About

Vox takes a look at the export of live animals, particularly by sea

(Newser) - It's an "animal welfare disaster" that's gone largely "unnoticed by the public," writes Sophie Kevany in a piece for Vox that details the issue at length: animals exported alive to other countries. That may sound relatively innocuous, but the reality of these transfers, particularly those...

10 of the World's Most Surprising Major Exports

Milk powder, not hobbits, is king in New Zealand

(Newser) - Did you know 40.9% of Haiti's exports are knit T-shirts? Using data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity, the Telegraph broke down and mapped out the major export from every country in the world—with some surprising results. Here are 10 of the most unexpected top exports in...

'China's Walter White' Tried to Solve Australia's Drug Dearth

$600K-per-month make-and-export business was going well until he got busted

(Newser) - A 46-year-old chemistry professor identified only as Zhang, but who Time notes has been called "China's Walter White" in reference to the lead character of AMC's Breaking Bad, was convicted Tuesday of whipping up and selling 32 kilos of drugs—though prosecutors think the amount produced was...

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