How dependent is China on the United States?

A product has a dominant supplier when a single country sells more than 50% of what is bought of it; we flag it separately above 75%.

• The United States sells 25.2% of what the world exports of airplanes and helicopters; next come France (24.9%), Germany (15.2%) and Canada (6.6%). The rest of the world exported 21.5 times what China buys from the United States.
• The United States sells 62.2% of what the world exports of sorghum; next come Australia (20.6%), Argentina (8.8%) and France (1.6%). The rest of the world exported 0.7 times what China buys from the United States.
• The United States sells 49.7% of what the world exports of forage (alfalfa and hay); next come Australia (13.4%), Canada (7.5%) and Spain (7%). The rest of the world exported 4.1 times what China buys from the United States.
• The United States sells 21.8% of what the world exports of cellulose derivatives; next come Germany (15.2%), Japan (5.6%) and South Korea (5.5%). The rest of the world exported 11.8 times what China buys from the United States.
• The United States sells 32.7% of what the world exports of photographic film in rolls; next come Japan (26.3%), Belgium (9.6%) and Taiwan (3.9%). The rest of the world exported 2.7 times what China buys from the United States.
• The United States sells 27.8% of what the world exports of nickel bars, profiles and wire; next come Germany (12.9%), France (10.1%) and Austria (8.9%). The rest of the world exported 12.8 times what China buys from the United States.
• The United States sells 7.6% of what the world exports of prepared meat; next come Thailand (14.7%), Germany (8.6%) and Poland (8.3%). The rest of the world exported 81.2 times what China buys from the United States.
• The United States sells 22.9% of what the world exports of mirrors and rear-view mirrors; next come Germany (6.7%), Spain (3.9%) and Hungary (3.8%). The rest of the world exported 18.6 times what China buys from the United States.
• The United States sells 29% of what the world exports of culture media; next come France (13%), United Kingdom (11.1%) and Germany (7.8%). The rest of the world exported 13.9 times what China buys from the United States.
• The United States sells 39.3% of what the world exports of other nickel articles; next come United Kingdom (9.9%), Mexico (7.1%) and France (6.3%). The rest of the world exported 12.8 times what China buys from the United States.

Exports from the rest of the world already have buyers; the figure shows scale, not availability.

China is the United States’ 3rd-largest customer, with 8.3% of its exports.

• Trade between China and the United States
• Who does China rely on?
• Who does the United States rely on?
• Dependence of China on Australia
• Dependence of China on Brazil
• Dependence of China on Indonesia
• Dependence of China on Vietnam
• Dependence of China on Guinea
• Dependence of China on Japan
• Dependence of China on South Africa
• Dependence of China on Chile
• Dependence of China on New Zealand
• Dependence of China on Thailand
• Dependence of China on South Korea
• Dependence of China on Canada
• Dependence of China on the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Dependence of China on Russia
• Dependence of China on Switzerland
• Dependence of China on India
• Dependence of China on Germany
• Dependence of China on Kazakhstan
• Dependence of China on the Philippines
• Dependence of China on France
• Dependence of China on Denmark
• Dependence of China on Namibia
• Dependence of China on Myanmar
• Dependence of China on Malaysia
• Trade profile of China
• Trade profile of the United States
• All countries

Sources and licenses

• CEPII BACI · Licence Ouverte Etalab 2.0
• Natural Earth · Public domain

Methodology

The data come from CEPII BACI (Etalab 2.0 licence), which reconciles what the exporting and the importing country report, in current USD, FOB. Data up to 2024.

Dependence is the share of a country’s imports (or exports) that each partner accounts for. It does not measure whether a product has a substitute or how much it would cost to change supplier.

The concentration index (HHI) adds up the square of each partner’s share, in percent: it runs from 0 to 10,000. Its equivalent is 10,000 ÷ HHI, the number of partners of the same size that would give that value.

Products are HS4 headings of the 1992 nomenclature (some combine different goods), with a floor of $1 million per product and country.

The EU is the 27 current members in every year; the United Kingdom is outside the EU throughout the series.

Re-exports: countries that act as redistribution hubs carry their notice and the figures are not corrected.