We produced a variation of this table just last month with slightly older data, yet it is a critical visual that needs to be digested. The US is not the leading trading partner for most countries. That ship has sailed. This has all happened in the last 25 years since China entered the WTO. There are many reasons for this change, but a combination of cheap labor and mercantilist policies was able to change world trade in favor of the Chinese. This is the headwind impacting a change in US trade relations. A strong dollar, higher relative wages, and less focus on trade have pushed the US to a lower trade status. Diving deeper into these numbers with EM countries suggests that China is a leading trade partner because it is importing raw materials; nevertheless, if China is your main trading partner and also provides financing, global markets will adapt and offset the dollar-focused inertia.
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