China released eye-popping June trade numbers on Tuesday. “A bit insane,” said Brad Setser of the Council of Foreign Relations, on X. Overall, Chinese exports increased 27% year-on-year to $412.4 billion. Imports expanded even more, by 36% year-on-year, to $286.8 billion. Chinese officials attributed the spike to the new artificial intelligence economy. “With the rapid growth of… Continue reading China’s New Record: Over 1M Cars Exported in a Month
Industry: Energy
How AI Is Driving Global Trade
Lower Growth in China In early March, Chinese leadership set their lowest gross domestic product growth target since 1991, forecasting a 4.5% to 5% expansion for its economy in 2026. This week, China reported a 21.8% year-on-year increase in exports for January and February to $656.6 billion. To avoid distorted numbers because of Chinese New… Continue reading How AI Is Driving Global Trade
Global Trade is Moving On — Without the U.S.
One way of looking at China’s trade economy in December and for the full 2025 year is its export surge, amplified by a weak currency, deflation at home, and inflation in most of the rest of the world. China pumped up total monthly exports 6.6% to $357.8 billion in December from $335.6 billion over the… Continue reading Global Trade is Moving On — Without the U.S.
TDM’s Top 10 Trade Trends to Watch in 2026
Happy New Year. While we wait on the Supreme Court to rule whether the Trump administration is entitled to apply tariffs on national security grounds, global trade grinds on. We at Trade Data Monitor are paying attention to what’s happening via the prism of official trade statistics. It’s a radically different world than when I started covering… Continue reading TDM’s Top 10 Trade Trends to Watch in 2026
China Hikes Iron Ore, Copper Imports Amid Car Building Boom
In the somewhat gloomy December and annual China trade statistics released in the second week of January was buried a piece of data that hearkened back to the boom years of Chinese commodity consumption: China is buying a lot more iron ore and copper. In December, China boosted iron ore imports 11.1% year-on-year to 100.9… Continue reading China Hikes Iron Ore, Copper Imports Amid Car Building Boom
Trade Data Monitor’s Top 10 Trade Trends Going Into 2024
It’s not an easy time for global trade–the roughly $25 trillion piece of the $105 trillion world economy. Protectionism is roaring in the U.S. and Europe, causing geopolitical tension with China. Inflation across most of the world has shrunk consumers’ wallets and imports, while deflation in China is also scaring businesses. Asian supply chains are… Continue reading Trade Data Monitor’s Top 10 Trade Trends Going Into 2024