China’s exports rise higher than expected 8% in April as new U.S. tariffs took effect

China's exports to the United States decline, but trade with other countries sees growth, offsetting the weakness.

China’s exports rose 8.1% in April from the year before, the government said on Friday (May 9, 2025), faster than economists were expecting, though exports to the United States sank more than 20%.

Economists had forecast that China’s global exports would grow about 2% in April, down from a whopping 12.4% year-on-year increase in March. Imports fell 0.2% in April from the year before.

The data were released a day before the U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other top the U.S. officials were due to meet with Beijing’s lead trade envoy, He Lifeng. The plans for talks in Geneva, Switzerland, could bring a shift in the stalemate over President Donald Trump’s hikes in tariffs on Chinese good to as much as 145%.

But the world’s two biggest economies are at odds over a raft of issues, including colliding strategic interests that will likely impede progress in the talks.

“Some of the punitive tariffs, including Beijing’s retaliatory 125% tariffs on the U.S. exports, could be rolled back, but a full reversal is unlikely,” Zichun Huang of Capital Economics said in a report.

“This means China’s exports to the U.S. are set for further declines over the coming months, not all of which will be offset by increased trade with other countries. We still expect export growth to turn negative later this year,” Mr. Huang said.

China’s politically sensitive trade surplus with the United States was nearly $20.5 billion in April, down from about $27.2 billion a year earlier. In the first four months of the year, China’s exports to the United States fell 2.5% from a year earlier, while imports from the U.S. fell 4.7%.