Workers at a port in Qingdao, east China’s Shandong province.
US-China trade reached a record high last year even as their diplomatic relations hit new lows.
Imports and exports between the two countries totaled US$690.6 billion (£572.6 billion) in 2022, official figures show.
Tensions between Washington and Beijing rose in recent days after a Chinese balloon flew over the United States.
The world’s two largest economies have been locked in a bitter trade war since 2018, when then-President Donald Trump began imposing tariffs on China.
The new figures show that US imports from China rose to $536.8 billion last year as American buyers spent more on Chinese-made goods, including toys and cellphones. During the same period, US exports to China rose to $153.8 billion.
While some of the increase in trade between the two countries is due to the rising cost of living, the figures also indicate how dependent the US and China still are on each other, even after years of trade tensions between them.
“I think it’s an important indication of the difficulties of actual decoupling,” Deborah Elms, founder of the Asian Trade Centre, told the BBC.
“Even if governments, businesses and consumers wanted to separate, the economy makes it difficult to deliver products in a decoupled world at a price that businesses and consumers are willing to pay,” she added.
In 2018, the Trump administration began tightening trade measures against Beijing.
After decades of rising Chinese imports, Mr Trump began imposing tariffs on more than $300 billion worth of Chinese goods. China hit back by levying import tariffs on about $100 billion worth of American goods.
Most of these measures remain in effect more than two years after Joe Biden took office.
This month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was scheduled to visit China in what was seen as a thawing of relations between the two countries.
America’s top diplomat was scheduled to visit Beijing Feb. 5-6 for talks on a variety of issues including security, Taiwan and Covid-19.
However, the trip was abruptly postponed after a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon was spotted floating over America.
Chinese officials have repeatedly said that “the airship is for civilian use and entered the US due to force majeure – it was purely an accident”.
In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, US President Joe Biden made no direct mention of the Chinese balloon but said his administration will always protect its sovereignty.
“I am committed to working with China where it can advance American interests and benefit the world.” But make no mistake: as we made clear last week, if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country. And that’s what we did.” he said.
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