{"id":425032,"date":"2026-01-23T13:18:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T13:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/425032\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T13:18:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T13:18:07","slug":"chinese-goods-flood-africa-widening-trade-gap-to-record-102-billion-amid-us-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/425032\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese goods flood Africa, widening trade gap to record $102 billion amid US pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n The figures underscore how Beijing is deepening commercial ties with African economies amid intensifying trade tensions with Washington.\n <\/p>\n

\n The shift comes as China faces higher tariffs on its goods in the United States, the world\u2019s largest importer, following measures imposed by US President Donald Trump. Beijing has responded with its own duties and non-tariff actions, while Chinese firms increasingly seek alternative markets.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cSince Africa is the market with the most latent demand for many of China\u2019s manufactured goods, it\u2019s an obvious target,\u201d Johnston said.\n <\/p>\n

\"Buses <\/p>\n

\n She added that Chinese companies already operating on the continent may account for a significant share of the rising imports.\n <\/p>\n

\n The trend also reflects Africa\u2019s growing importance as a driver of global growth, as East Asia\u2019s rapid catch-up phase has matured. Johnston noted that part of the increase likely stems from imports of capital goods such as heavy machinery and industrial equipment that many African economies need but do not yet produce.\n <\/p>\n

\n Consultancy Capital Economics said a large share of Chinese goods entering Africa, including solar panels and construction materials,<\/a> is central to the region\u2019s industrialisation goals. However, economists caution that the pace seen last year may not be sustained.\n <\/p>\n

\n Charlie Robertson, an Africa-focused economist and author of The Time Travelling Economist, said Chinese exports remain competitively priced, but the surge in 2025 trade volumes is unlikely to be repeated on the same scale this year.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe should expect further growth as Africa\u2019s economies benefit from higher commodity prices, such as gold and copper,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

\n China\u2019s central bank has increased its gold holdings for 14 consecutive months, and Chinese firms continue to invest in African mining assets, including Zijin Mining\u2019s $1 billion acquisition of Ghana\u2019s Akyem gold mine.\n <\/p>\n

\n In an effort to rebalance trade long dominated by raw materials, Beijing last year introduced a zero-tariff policy granting duty-free access to all products from 53 African countries with diplomatic ties to China. Yet Robertson said the policy does not tackle the deeper issue of low industrial capacity across much of the continent.\n <\/p>\n

\n Jacques Nel, head of Africa Macro at Oxford Economics Africa, said raw materials still account for about 90 percent of African exports, while non-tariff barriers remain high.\n <\/p>\n

\n He added that African countries could leverage the African Continental Free Trade Area to strengthen their bargaining power in negotiations with China.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The figures underscore how Beijing is deepening commercial ties with African economies amid intensifying trade tensions with Washington.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425033,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[28,101],"class_list":{"0":"post-425032","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}