US trade with Southeast Asia and Taiwan surging despite Trump tariffs

While trade data show exports from China have fallen dramatically, US customers are still buying from elsewhere.

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When United States President Donald Trump returned to office 12 months ago, he promised to slash the country’s trade deficit, which had swelled to about $918.4bn, or 3.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), for goods and services in 2024.

Invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), he launched “reciprocal tariffs” on US trade partners to “rectify trade practices”, which the White House blamed for hollowing out US manufacturing, starting on April 2.