US overtaken by Southeast Asia as China's No. 2 trade partner

American exports plunge 30% as Beijing finds other suppliers

A factory worker makes tires in China's Hebei Province. Chinese exports to the U.S. have fallen much further than the reverse amid their trade war. © Reuters

ISSAKU HARADA, Nikkei staff writer

July 13, 2019 04:36 JST

BEIJING -- The U.S. is losing importance as a trading partner of China as their tariff war drags on, dropping a notch to third place in the first half of 2019 to trail the European Union and Southeast Asia.

Sino-American trade in goods declined 14% on the year to $258.3 billion, according to statistics out Friday from Chinese customs authorities. In exports, the U.S. sustained a much harder blow.