Little impact of Trump's tariff barrier on China's trade surplus

Trump's main concern is cutting his nation's massive trade deficit with China. The more than $2 billion expansion of the deficit in May from April won't improve that situation.

China’s massive trade surplus with the world shrank in May. Unfortunately for the ongoing tensions with President Donald Trump, the surplus with the U.S didn’t.

The trade gap with the U.S. swelled to $24.6 billion, making up almost all of the total surplus of $24.9 billion. Overall, exports rose 12.6 per cent in May from a year earlier while imports surged 26 per cent, partly due to higher oil and other commodity prices. Shipments to the U.S. were up 11.6 per cent, the most since February.

While the deal to allow ZTE to restart business removes one irritant in the