Chinese businesses are sending increasing volumes of goods to the US via south-east Asia in a bid to evade the tariff wall erected by Donald Trump as part of his trade war, data suggests.
The value of Chinese exports to the US dropped by 43 per cent year on year in May, according to figures published by the US census bureau — equivalent to $15bn-worth of goods.
But the country’s overall exports rose by 4.8 per cent in the same period, official Chinese data showed, as the shortfall in trade with the US was offset by a 15 per cent increase in shipping to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations trade bloc and a 12 per cent rise to the EU.