China Economy

China's trade surplus with the US hit a record high in June

Key Points
  • China on Friday released its accounting of recent international trade.
Soldiers wait for a container ship to berth at Qingdao Port on March 8, 2018 in Qingdao, China.
VCG | Getty Images

China on Friday reported that its trade surplus with the U.S. grew to $28.97 billion in June, according to data from China's customs office.

In May, the surplus had been $24.58 billion. The new surplus is the highest on record, according to Reuters calculations.

Overall, China said both its imports and exports with the U.S. rose in the first half of 2018.

Exports to the world's largest economy rose 5.7 percent against the prior year-ago period in yuan terms, said the customs office. Imports from the U.S., meanwhile, correspondingly rose 4 percent.

The politically-sensitive data came amid escalating trade tensions between U.S. and China.

But China's customs office said it will not put in place any special regulatory measures targeting American goods, and also will not delay the movements of these goods at ports.

President has consistently deemed trade with China unfair to America and has demanded that Beijing address the issue.

But, China's trade surplus against the U.S. has grown even though the Asian country's total surplus has narrowed over the last two years.

Earlier this week, Trump's administration released its list of that it said it aims to subject to 10 percent tariffs following a review process. China retaliatory action and pledged that it would lodge a complaint with the World Trade Organization.

Last week, U.S. tariffs on $34 billion in Chinese products went into effect. China responded by slapping 25 percent duties on the same amount in U.S. goods.

"This trade dispute will certainly impact China-U.S. trade and will very negatively impact global trade," Huang Songping, a spokesperson for China's customs bureau, said at a press briefing on Friday.

China ran a $375 billion goods trade surplus with the United States in 2017.

— CNBC's Ming Cheang and Reuters contributed to this story.