The US-China Trade War Continues: Who's Winning?

The trade war between the United States (US) and China continues, with both countries imposing increasing import tariffs on each other's goods. Most recently, US President Donald Trump launched a new trade war offensive by imposing an additional 10% tariff on US$300 billion worth of imports from China.

This move was countered by the Chinese government allowing its currency, the yuan, to weaken against the US dollar. This policy aims to keep the prices of Chinese exports competitive in the global market. The consequence was a fall in stock prices and a weakening of Asian currencies at the start of the trading week.

(Read Databoks: [Perang Dagang Memanas, Berapa Defisit Perdagangan Amerika dengan Tiongkok?](https://databoks.katadata.co.id/datapublish/2018/09/24/perang-dagang-memanas-berapa-defisit-perdagangan-amerika-dengan-tiongkok))

According to the US Bureau of Statistics, the US still has a trade deficit with China, although it shows a downward trend compared to last year, as seen in the graph below. As is known, US exports to China in June 2019 were only US$9.03 billion, while imports were US$39 billion, resulting in a US trade deficit of US$29.97 billion. Similarly, for the January-June 2019 period, the US trade deficit was US$167.04 billion.

(Read Databoks: [IMF Revisi Pertumbuhan Ekonomi Dunia 2019 Akibat Pelemahan di Eropa dan Perang Dagang](https://databoks.katadata.co.id/datapublish/2019/01/23/imf-revisi-pertumbuhan-ekonomi-dunia-2019-akibat-pelemahan-di-eropa-dan-perang-dagang))