Truth behind China-US trade 'imbalances'

BEIJING - A "huge" trade deficit with China is reportedly behind the US administration's plan to slap tariffs on up to 60 billion US dollars of Chinese imports and restrict Chinese investment.

But data sometimes lies, and could shield the bigger picture.

TWISTED DATA

What the United States claims to be a "record trade deficit" with China is an inflated figure.

According to US Census Bureau data, the trade deficit with China ran to a record 375 billion US dollars last year, while China's customs data showed the country's surplus with the United States stood at 1.87 trillion yuan (about 298 billion US dollars).

The gap resulted mainly from differences in statistical approaches, such as whether or not to include transit trade in the calculations, according to Zhang Monan, researcher with China Center for International Economic Exchanges.

Such discrepancies have inflated the US calculation of its trade deficit with China by about 20 percent every year, according to Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan.

The United States is home to many multinational companies that have a global supply chain, but the current total value statistical method has distorted reality, analysts said.

An iPhone, for example, uses components made in different countries around the world and is only assembled and manufactured in China, but the calculation of trade statistics attributed most of the value to China.

"In this case, China is taking the blame for others," Zhang said.

She added that most of the profits actually went to US companies but the value of the products was reflected in Chinese exports, resulting in inaccurate statistics.

What's more, when talking about the deficit with China, the United States always played down trade of services, according to Tu Xinquan, professor at the University of International Business and Economics.

Data from China's Ministry of Commerce showed that the country has a huge service trade deficit with the United States, and the gap has been widening.

From 2006 to 2016, China's service trade deficit with the United States increased by more than 30 times. The figure reached 255.4 billion US dollars last year, official data showed.