TOI correspondent from Washington : Tariffs? What tariffs? In a resounding rebuff to US efforts to corral its manufacturing might and gargantuan growth, China announced a $ 1 trillion trade surplus with the world on Monday, leaving Washington, New Delhi, Brussels among others capitals wringing their hands. It is the first time in human history that any country has crossed the $ 1 trillion milestone – which means China exported more (approximately $3.6 trillion worth of goods) than it imported (about $ 2.6 trillion) – cementing its standing as a manufacturing superpower. The watershed moment came despite Trump’s tariff tentacles as Chinese manufacturers slipped through the American grab, diversifying their markets, lessening dependence on the US, and demonstrating resilience in the face of headwinds, something India is struggling to do. Trade figures show exports from China to the US plunged nearly 29% year-on-year in November 2025, marking the eighth consecutive month of double-digit decline, but Beijing more than made up for it by cranking up exports to EU, South East Asia, India, and Africa.
Also read: The trillion-dollar shock – What tariff? How Xi Jinping beat Trump in trade warIn November 2025 alone, Chinese exports rose by 5.9% year-on-year, while imports grew just 1.9%, generating a monthly surplus of roughly $111.7 billion — one of the largest monthly surpluses China has ever logged.While the U.S whittled down Chinese imports to a degree, New Delhi, like much of the world, was at the receiving end of Beijing’s export boom. India’s imports from China in fiscal year 2024-25 surging to $113.45 billion, while its exports to China dwindled to just $14.25 billion – a staggering trade deficit of nearly $ 100 billion. It is the largest deficit New Delhi has ever had with any trading partner as Indians sucked up Chinese electronics, cell phones, toys, machinery, batteries, and solar cells, some of it vital to India’s manufacturing and infrastructure sectors.Economists and policymakers were gobsmacked by the sheer scale of China’s surplus, particularly in light of Trump tariffs. The $1.076 trillion figure in 2025 overshoots by far the previous record of $ 992 billion under more propitious circumstances in 2024, underlining how resilient and broad China’s export engine has become — even as trade tensions and tariffs persisted. In 2024, roughly one-third of China’s total surplus — about $360 billion — came from trade with the US It ran up a similar surplus with the EU. In fact, there is no widely-reported country or bloc to which China runs a consistent large-scale trade deficit in goods. Instead, most major economies — from the US and EU to India — run substantial deficits with China.Much of China’s growing trade surplus despite U.S tariffs came from rerouting shipments to other destinations. Chinese exports to the EU surged 15% from a year earlier. While exports to the US for November plunged 29% from a year earlier, Beijing posted an overall 5.9% increase in exports to rest of the world, with Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America accounting for 26%, 14% and 7.1% increase respectively.The widening imbalances risk reshaping global manufacturing geography, amid fears that China is not only dominating low-cost production, but also high-tech supply chains, locking in dependencies for years, as it demonstrated with its stranglehold on rare earths product supply. The $1 trillion-plus surplus also gives Beijing room to absorb domestic economic weakness — notably weak consumption and a troubled property sector — without relying on foreign debt or capital inflows like most other countries. Such has been the Chinese dominance that even U.S commentators expressed grudging admiration for its powerhouse push. “China established itself as a maker of cheap wigs, sneakers and Christmas lights in the 1980s and 1990s, earning a moniker as the world’s factory floor. But that was just the beginning… In recent years, its leading-edge companies have established themselves as dominant players in solar panels, electric vehicles and the semiconductors that power everyday household items,” the Wall Street Journal acknowledged, noting that China is making itself an indispensable cog in global supply chains spanning technology, transport, medicine and consumer goods.Beijing itself was modesty personified as it broke new barriers. “We want to be lowkey, but our capabilities is just too much,” the country’s office of foreign liaison posted on X. “The Chinese century is being imposed upon us, we have no choice but to take the mantle of responsibility,” it added.
