January data showed that both the European Union's trade surplus with the United States and its deficit with China increased implying a potential fuel for trade conflicts between three of the largest economies in the world.
Eurostat, the European Union's statistics office, said that the surplus in goods trade of the European Union with the United States in January increased to 11.5 billion euros from 10.1 billion during the same month in 2018. The bloc's deficit with China also increased to 21.4 billion euros from 20.8 billion in 2018.
Recently, United States President Donald Trump repeatedly complained about Europe's trade surplus with Washington. The president imposed tariffs to limit imports of European steel and aluminum and he threatened to the same for other products including cars and car parts.
The trade surplus between China and the European Union also ignites more tension between the two. The European Union imposed strict restrictions on the Asian economic giant. Recently, the European Union set out a 10-point plan to balance economic ties and the bloc also pushed China to open up its market.
According to Eurostat, the United States was the largest partner for European Union exports of goods in 2017 and the second largest for the European Union's imports of goods. The reports said that the European Union had a trade in good surplus with the United States from 2008 to 2017. The bloc's export, import, and the deficit all fell in 2009. The Europan Union's trade surplus steadily increased after the global financial and economic crisis in both import and export to the United States. The bloc's trade surplus is at EUR 122 billion in 2015.
Eurostat data said that, in 2017, China is the largest trading partner of the European Union in terms of imports and the second largest partner in the export of goods. The report also showed that the Netherlands is the largest importer of goods from China while Germany leads the European Union in exporting goods to the Asian country. The report also showed that the European Union continuously had a trade in goods deficit with China from 2008 to 2017. Records show that the trade between the two nations hit a low in 2009 because of falling imports.
Eurostat also said that there were fluctuations in the trade balance in 2009, 2013, and 2014 which was below EUR 140 billion. The trade balance is above EUR 170 billion in 2008, 2010, and 2015 until 2016 and it was EUR 176 billion in 2017.
