Mubasher: China’s exports dropped in June as trade tariff hikes from the US took effect, while imports continued their slide amid stuttering domestic demand, according to official data.

Chinese exports fell by 1.3% year-on-year last June to $212.8 billion, compared with a growth of 1.1% in May, the General Administration of Customs said on Friday.

This came after Washington raised tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25% from 10% last May.

Meanwhile, imports dropped by 7.3% last month to $161.8 billion, after slumping by 8.5% in the preceding month.

As a result, China’s total trade surplus came in at $50.98 billion in June, up from $41.65 billion in the previous month.

During the first half of this year, China’s exports went up by 0.1%, compared with a 12.8% growth in the same period last year, while imports fell by 4.3%, compared with 19.9% increase.

Chinese exports to the US in June fell by 7.8% to $39 billion, while imports dropped by 31.4% to $9 billion.