Germany outpaces US as leading car exporter to China

Germany has surpassed the United States to become the leading car exporter to the Chinese market amid the US-Chinese trade war, Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen said on Tuesday.

"The United States used to be the major car exporter to China, but now Germany has become the leader in car export to China. The import of Japanese and German cars is increasing in the Chinese market, while the import of US cars is declining," Wang said at a press briefing.

Wang went on to say that the US trade measures were harming not only to China, but the United States as well.

"The US trade deficit is increasing not only with China, but with the whole international trade market. This is why we believe that the trade war complies neither with the Chinese nor with US trade interests," Wang added. According to the official, putting an end to the trade war is the only way to resolve the situation.

The US-Chinese trade war started in July, when US President Donald Trump, who had repeatedly pledged to fix the US $500 billion trade deficit with China, imposed tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods. Since then, the two sides have exchanged several rounds of import duties on each other, with the attempts to resolve the conflict via dialogue coming in vain.

On Saturday, China announced its withdrawal from trade talks, following recent US sanctions targeting the Chinese Defense Ministry and the Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport. The sanctions were prompted by the deals on China's purchase of Russian aircraft and S-400 missile systems.