Exports from China fell in August as an intensifying trade dispute with the US took a heavier than expected toll on the country’s manufacturing sector and a forecast temporary increase in orders failed to materialise.
China’s exports decreased 1 per cent last month compared with a year earlier, according to the customs administration, despite the majority of economists polled by Reuters forecasting an increase. The decline compares with a 3.3 per cent rise in exports year on year in July.
Goldman Sachs had forecast that there would be a 2 per cent increase in exports in August because it expected buyers of Chinese goods to “front-load” orders before a new round of US tariffs kicked in on September 1.