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China turns tariffs into trade resilience

A new report from Geneva, Switzerland-based United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD) shows how China offset shrinking US shipments by boosting sales elsewhere. In the second quarter of ****, exports rose strongly despite weaker US trade, thanks to established networks across Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe. Much of the momentum came from developing economies.

Rather than rerouting through hubs like Vietnam or Malaysia, Chinese exporters redirected higher-quality goods originally bound for the US to emerging markets hungry for such products—a shift researchers call “vertical trade diversion.”