US-China trade defies talk of decoupling to hit record high in 2022

Trade between the United States and China hit a record high in 2022, even as political tension heightened between the world’s top two economies.

The bilateral goods trade between the countries rose to $690.6 billion last year, according to official US data, CNN reports.

Exports to China increased by $2.4 billion to $153.8 billion, while imports of Chinese products rose by $31.8 billion to $536.8 billion according to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The data suggests that the idea of “decoupling,” or reducing mutual reliance in a range of areas, is much more evident in policy discussions in Washington rather than in on-the-ground trade reality, according to analysts.