The USA was the most important country for German foreign trade in the first quarter of the year – and no longer China, as was previously the case. Imports from Asia in particular fell significantly.
For a long time, China was considered Germany’s ultimate trading partner. But in the first quarter of 2024, the USA moved ahead of the Asian country with its imports and exports, as the Federal Statistical Office announced today.
This continued a trend from the third and fourth quarters of last year. However, in the balance sheet for 2023 as a whole, China was still just ahead of the United States as Germany’s most important trading partner.
In the first three months of this year, the Federal Republic imported significantly fewer goods from China. According to the statistics agency, Chinese imports fell by 11.7 percent to 36 billion euros compared to the same quarter last year.
3.2 billion euros more trading volume
The value of goods exported from Germany to China fell by 1.1 percent to 24 billion euros. Overall, the foreign trade volume with China amounting to 60 billion euros from January to March was lower than the trade volume with the United States, which totaled 63.2 billion euros.
Experts do not rule out that China will lose its position as Germany’s most important trading partner to the USA in the overall balance for 2024 after eight years in a row in first place. The federally owned German foreign trade company Germany Trade and Invest (GTAI) recently justified this in a study primarily with China’s current economic weakness: “The real estate crisis, geopolitical risks in relation to the USA and weak industrial investments contribute to this.” German companies also tried to avoid relying on China for procurement.
China remains the most important supplier of goods
However, with a share of 10.9 percent of all imports, China was by far Germany’s most important supplier of goods in the first quarter of 2024. Overall, Germany imported goods worth a total of 331.2 billion euros in the three months. The second most imports came from the Netherlands (7.6 percent of all imports), followed by the USA (7.0 percent).
In terms of value, for example, 85.4 percent of the photovoltaic systems imported into Germany came from China in the first quarter, as did 86.3 percent of portable computers, 60.5 percent of smartphones and 45.4 percent of lithium-ion batteries. Companies from Germany mainly delivered cars and car parts as well as machines to China.