This is what 30 years of China trumping the U.S. on trade looks like
MARKETWATCH 11:57 AM ET 3/23/2016
'Are there any glimmers of hope for the American side?'
In 1985, the U.S. exported $3.9 billion worth of goods and services to China, while importing pretty much the exact same amount. Let's just say, times have changed.
By 2015, the trade imbalance ballooned to $365.7 billion in China's favor. That not only notched a record level for U.S.-China trade but also an all-time high for any bilateral trade ever, as well.
Cost-estimating website HowMuch.net crunched the numbers (http://howmuch.net/) and used this animated graphic to show how it exploded over those three decades.
"Watch America's exports to China progress in fits and starts -- even reverting to 'negative growth' on five occasions: in 1986, 1990, 1999, 2009 and 2015," wrote Raul Amoros, HowMuch.net's content director. "Perhaps this time next year it will be illegal to disagree with Donald J. Trump. But that doesn't mean everything he says now is wrong."
Amoros pointed out, as the graphic shows, that 30 years after the two sides were at perfect equilibrium, China now exports almost four times as much to the U.S. than the other way around.
"Are there any glimmers of hope for the American side?" Amoros asked. "Well, yes. At least China's exports aren't increasing as fast as they were a few years back."
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