China was more than 30% short of its 2021 commitments under the phase-one trade deal with the United States during the first five months of the year, according to new analysis of trade data between the world’s two largest economies, reported the South China Morning Post.
The US and China signed their long-awaited deal in January 2020, and the terms outlined in the agreement took effect one month later. As part of it, China committed to buying an additional $200 billion worth of goods and services over 2020-21, relative to 2017’s levels.
But according to a report released by the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) on Tuesday, China’s purchases of US goods from January to May reached only 69% of the year-to-date target based on Chinese import data, and only 62% of the target based on US export data.
An earlier PIIE report in February, which similarly was compiled by economist Chad Bown, said that a large part of the phase-one trade deal that entered into force a year prior was a “failure”, after US exports of phase-one goods to China in 2020 fell more than 40% short of the target.