Trump-Xi summit: China sees ‘surprise’ surge in U.S. orders

A private survey found a surprising increase in how American businesses ramped up orders from Chinese manufacturers leading up to the high-stakes summit this week as companies are poised for sustained stability between the world’s two largest economies.

Primarily, the estimate measuring orders from the US calculated as the proportion of surveyed firms reporting an increase minus in the share reporting a decrease jumped to 13 in September. Meanwhile, overall Chinese domestic and export orders remain depressed compared to their levels a year earlier.

The upsurge in US-bound orders came as businesses were positioned for a more cooperative accord between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping who is in Washington for his first state visit in more than a decade.

The two countries agreed to a two-month extension through January that keeps tariffs lower, eases restrictive controls on rare earth exports and holds off higher port fees on ships.

The export order figures are consistent with recent metrics including that China’s ports saw their busiest week on record in the lead up to the summit, and are another sign that trade flows were recovering amid hopes for a further easing in bilateral tensions.

Washington is inclined to fast-tracked expedited Chinese approval of rare-earth licenses for US end users as well as higher consumer spending on US agricultural goods, Beijing meanwhile would expect the White House to uphold the existing halt on defense transactions to Taiwan. The two leaders are expected to meet again at the APEC summit in Shenzhen in November, potentially at the risk of being sidelined from the G20 summit the US is hosting in Miami in December, though no bilateral meeting after this week’s summit has yet been confirmed.