China Surpassed The U.S. To Become The World’s Biggest Trading Nation In 2013

Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/BloombergPhotographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg

China Eclipses U.S. As Biggest Trading Nation Measured In Goods -- Bloomberg

China surpassed the U.S. to become the world’s biggest trading nation last year as measured by the sum of exports and imports of goods, official figures from both countries show.

U.S. exports and imports of goods last year totaled $3.82 trillion, the U.S. Commerce Department said last week. China’s customs administration reported last month that the country’s trade in goods in 2012 amounted to $3.87 trillion.

China’s growing influence in global commerce threatens to disrupt regional trading blocs as it becomes the most important commercial partner for some countries. Germany may export twice as much to China by the end of the decade as it does to France, estimated Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s Jim O’Neill.

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My Comment: I was told on my last trip to China (fall 2012) that the economy was slowing down .... but steady growth will continue to be the norm for the next decade or two. I agree. At this rate, China's economy will easily surpass America's in the next decade .... and then go far beyond that.