China's export growth in March was stronger than expected, with shipments likely front-loaded before expected U.S. tariffs.
Outbound shipments in March rose 12.4% compared with the same period a year earlier, according to the official data released Monday. That was up sharply from a 2.3% increase in the first two months and the 4.4% growth tipped by a Wall Street Journal survey of economists.
The higher-than-expected export growth came before hefty tariffs announced by U.S. President Trump came into effect in April. These tariffs are set to weigh on China's exports this month or months ahead.
China's imports fell 4.3% on year in March, better than the 8.4% decline in the January-February period, but weaker than the 1.8% rise expected by the survey of economists.
That put China's trade surplus at $102.64 billion in March, bigger than $77 billion projected by the survey.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 13, 2025 23:35 ET (03:35 GMT)
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