Bloomberg reporters answer questions about how Trump’s promises to raise tariffs on China could lead to a trade war with global consequences.

On the eve of Donald Trump’s White House return, the Chinese government announced that last year it recorded a trade surplus of almost $1 trillion, a third of which was with the US.

China's economy ended 2024 on better footing than expected helped by a flurry of stimulus measures, although the threat of a new trade war with the United States and weak domestic demand could hurt confidence in a broader recovery this year.

China might not be able to rely on trade to steer it out of trouble as blistering tariffs being considered by US President-elect Donald Trump threaten an already struggling economy.

China’s vast exports in 2024 exceeded its imports on a scale seldom seen anywhere except during or immediately after the two world wars.

China’s trade surplus hit almost a trillion dollars in 2024, driven by record exports of $3.6 trillion, according to official data. The surplus, which is equivalent to 992.2 billion in US dollars, has sparked concerns about a new wave of global trade tensions,

Only a third of China’s trade surplus was with the United States, and only a third of the U.S. deficit was with China. That makes for tricky math for the president-elect.