PARIS, France, February 17 ------ The countries that run the biggest trade surpluses with the United States may be the first targets of the "reciprocal" tariffs announced by President Donald Trump. Officials said the tariffs could be rolled out as soon as April after studies on the issue were completed. The White House said the Trump administration would begin by examining countries with which the United States has the biggest deficits or largest imbalances.
Here is a look at the countries that exports much more to the United States than they import:
Perennial champion China
China, the world's second biggest economy, is the country with the highest trade surplus with the United States. The US-China trade gap reached $295.4 billion last year, according to the US Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Known as the world's factory, China produces goods for Chinese and foreign companies, including US firms, that are then exported across the globe. Trump also accuses Beijing of manipulating the yuan to make Chinese-made products more competitive abroad. The US leader, who had launched a trade war with China during his first term, imposed addition 10-percent tariffs earlier this month, triggering retaliatory duties from Beijing.
'Brutal' EU
The United States had a trade deficit of $235.6 billion with the 27-nation European Union last year. Trump alleged the EU was "absolutely brutal" in its commercial relations with Washington. Ireland had the biggest trade surplus at $86.7 billion but that was in part due to the presence of US companies that have taken advantage of the country's low corporate tax. Germany, Europe's top economy and major car exporter, came in second at $84.8 billion, followed by Italy at $44 billion. While US official figures show France has a surplus of $16.4 billion with the United States, French customs data report a deficit of several billion dollars for the European country, since they do not take the same numbers into account.
Mexico and Vietnam
Mexico came in third place with a surplus of $171.8 billion in its trade with the United States, followed by Vietnam at $123.5 billion. Both countries have become popular with multinationals looking for low-cost manufacturing to export to larger markets.
Mexico has profited from its proximity and tariff-free access to the United States, becoming the top exporter to the world's largest economy. Many US companies have built factories there and Chinese companies are also using the country to access the US market. Vietnam benefitted as an alternative manufacturing site in Asia as the US intensified pressure on China. Both countries saw their trade surpluses rise during the first Trump administration.
Other top 10 surplus nations
Taiwan finished out the top five with a trade surplus of $73.9 billion. It is followed by Japan ($68.5 billion), South Korea ($66 billion), Canada ($63.3 billion), India ($45.7 billion) and Thailand ($45.6 billion).
Source: philstar.com
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