US exports through August 2020 of a number of polymers, liquefied gases and organic chemicals showed huge percentage increases versus the same period in 2019.

The trade war that started in late 2018 between the US and China resulted in much lower US exports to China in 2019 for all of the products listed in the table below. In January 2020, the Phase I deal was signed between the two countries and It was agreed that “China shall ensure that purchases and imports into China from the United States of the manufactured goods, agricultural goods, energy products, and services identified in Annex 6.1 exceed the corresponding 2017 baseline amount by no less than $200 billion”.

The agreement broadly covers inorganic and organic chemicals and energy products, in addition to agricultural goods and services. Separately, China had earlier agreed to exclude from a 25% duty imports from the US of a number of polyolefins.

The following table highlights several key US exports to China through August 2020 that have risen sharply in terms of volume versus August 2019 YTD (and also versus August 2018 YTD, for all products except LNG). Figures are as reported by the US Dept. of Commerce.

From International Trader Publications’ World Trade Reports on each product. ITP’s World Trade Reports continuously analyze trade for countries, regions and the world based on the latest statistics from 100 countries.