by Calculated Risk on 5/02/2005 02:45:00 AM

I'm getting a little ahead of the news this week with my post recent on Angry Bear: March Trade Balance Preview. But this story in today's NY Times kept me focused on trade: China Trade Surplus With West Still Rising.

China's global exports soared in the first quarter of this year, allowing the country to rack up huge trade surpluses with the United States and western Europe, according to detailed trade data released late last week by Chinese customs officials.

And more on China's trade with Germany:

Even Germany, which has long run trade surpluses with China because it sells heavy manufacturing equipment to Chinese factories, is now in the red: its $2 billion trade surplus in the first three months of last year evaporated, turning into a $159 million trade deficit in the first months of this year.

For those of us worried by the impact of global imbalances, this trend is disconcerting.