As the deadline for Trump to suspend the so-called "reciprocal tariffs" approaches, exports from several Asian economies to the United States have soared, thereby causing the trade deficit between the United States and the Asian region to continue to expand.
On June 23rd, it was reported that Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan of China and South Korea all set or approached new export records to the United States in May, indicating that enterprises are racing against time to deliver goods to the United States to avoid possible high tariffs.
This round of export surge is expected to be reflected in the US trade data for May this week. The market predicts that the US trade deficit in May will reach 91 billion US dollars, pushing the total deficit so far in 2025 to approach 643 billion US dollars, far exceeding the historical record for the same period.
Some analyses point out that if Trump imposes historically high tariffs on Asian economies in early July, the current surge in exports may reverse rapidly, thereby impacting the economic growth of the entire region. Apec has lowered its GDP growth forecast for this year from 3.3% in March to 2.6% due to trade tensions.
Exports of major Asian economies have seen record growth
It is reported that according to the data released in the past few weeks, Vietnam, Taiwan of China and Thailand's exports to the United States all reached record highs in May. Among them, Vietnam and Thailand's exports to the United States soared by 35% year-on-year, and Taiwan's exports to the United States even soared by nearly 90%.
It is worth noting that South Korea's exports to the United States in May were also close to record levels. In addition, customs data released on Monday showed that South Korea's exports in the first 20 days of June increased by 8.3% year-on-year, among which exports to the United States rose by 4.3%.
The significant growth pattern of Asian economies' exports to the United States has overturned the historical pattern.
Under normal circumstances, Asian suppliers will increase their exports to the United States before the end of the year to prepare for the Christmas holiday, making trade more active in the second half of the year. However, the threat of new tariffs that may be implemented in early July forces enterprises to ship goods to the United States as soon as possible.
The trade deficit of the United States has reached a record high
This year, the US trade deficit has expanded significantly, and enterprises are striving to cope with the sudden changes in the tariff and trade policies of the Trump administration.
It is reported that although the significant increase in imports of pharmaceutical products from Europe has also pushed up the deficit, Asian economies remain the largest single contributor to the expansion of the deficit.
Currently, market forecasts indicate that the US trade deficit in May will reach 91 billion US dollars, bringing the total deficit so far in 2025 to nearly 643 billion US dollars, far exceeding the historical record set for the same period during the pandemic.
Some analyses point out that the expansion of the US trade deficit may complicate the negotiations between the Trump administration and various Asian economies on tariff levels.
The economic outlook of Asia under the threat of tariffs
If an agreement cannot be reached with the United States and a significant increase in tariffs is avoided, other Asian economies may soon face an economic growth shock.
Last month, APEC lowered its growth forecast due to trade tensions, reducing the GDP growth forecast for 21 member economies this year from 3.3% in March to 2.6%.
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation also pointed out at that time that it was expected that export growth would be 0.4% in 2025 and 5.7% in 2024. The fluctuation range of trade policies in April was nine times the average from 2015 to 2024.
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