China imports from US plunge 31% in June amid tariff war
Shenzhen Vice Mayor discusses the impact of tariffs on his city.
It is another sign of the impact the trade war is having between the U.S. and China.
China's imports from the U.S. plunged in June, while exports to the U.S. weakened.
Imports of U.S. goods fell 31.4 percent from a year earlier to $9.4 billion, while exports to the American market declined 7.8 percent to $39.3 billion, customs data showed Friday.
China's trade surplus with the United States widened by 3 percent to $29.9 billion.
The impact on trade has been seen ever since President Trump started hiking tariffs last year on goods from China in a fight over Beijing's technology ambitions.
China retaliated with penalty duties and ordered importers to find non-U.S. suppliers.
Trump and his Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed in June to resume negotiations. That helped to reassure jittery financial markets but forecasters say their truce is fragile because the two sides are divided by the same array of conflicts that caused talks to break down in May.
Trade envoys talked by phone Tuesday in their first contact since Trump and Xi met in Japan, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said.
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Chinese leaders express confidence their economy can survive the tariff fight. But while American exporters have been hit hardest, Chinese industries including electronics that Beijing sees its economic future have suffered double-digit declines in sales to the United States, their biggest market.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.