China Defies Tariff Pressure As Weekly Container Throughput Jumps 6%

Chinese ports processed a total of 261.5 million tons of cargo for the reported week, a 7.2% increase compared to the previous month.

China’s weekly processed container volumes rose 6% compared to a month earlier, despite steep tariffs imposed by Donald Trump that have threatened to cripple trade.

According to Ministry of Transport data, Chinese ports processed 6.3 million containers in the seven days through April 20, about a 10% increase from the same period last year.

Chinese ports processed a total of 261.5 million tons of cargo for the reported week, a 7.2% increase compared to the previous month.

The tariffs imposed by Donald Trump have severely threatened China’s massive export industry. Both countries have imposed tariffs of over 100% on each other’s goods.

However, exporters have gotten a reprieve as Trump paused tariffs on all countries for 90 days and also exempted certain consumer electronics goods, including smartphones, from the tariffs.

The port of Los Angeles is expected to receive about 13 ships from China this week, according to a Bloomberg report.

However, buyers were already importing Chinese goods rapidly before the tariffs kicked in. Customs data showed that the country's exports rose 12.4% in U.S. dollar terms in the last month compared to the same period a year earlier.

The Xi Jinping-led country has warned other countries not to make trade deals with the U.S. at the expense of China’s interests.

Chinese equity-focused exchange-traded funds, iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI) and iShares MSCI China ETF (MCHI), have gained 7.9% and 6.5%, respectively, year to date.

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