The United States exports a wide mix of goods and services to China, led by high-value manufactured products, farm goods, and energy, plus important service sectors like travel and education.

Big picture: what does the US export to China?

Major export categories include:

  • Aircraft and aerospace products (commercial airplanes, parts, avionics).
  • Semiconductors and other advanced electronic components.
  • Agricultural products such as soybeans, corn, pork, beef, and dairy.
  • Oilseeds and grains more broadly (soybeans are usually the single biggest item in many years).
  • Energy products like crude oil, LNG, refined fuels, and some coal.
  • Automobiles and auto parts (though this has been pressured by tariffs and China’s own EV boom).
  • Industrial machinery, medical equipment, and instruments.
  • Chemicals and plastics.

On the services side, key US exports to China include:

  • Education (Chinese students paying tuition and living expenses in the US).
  • Travel and tourism (Chinese visitors’ spending in the US).
  • Intellectual property and licensing fees.
  • Financial, business, and professional services.

How big is this trade?

  • In 2024, US exports of goods and services to China were on the order of roughly 200 billion dollars, keeping China among America’s top export markets despite tensions.
  • Goods exports alone were a bit under that total (the rest is services), with China still the United States’ third‑largest goods export market in 2024.

Even with recent tariffs and political friction, the flow hasn’t stopped; it has shifted toward higher‑value tech, aerospace, and certain agriculture and energy items while some traditional categories have fallen.

What’s changed recently?

Recent trends shaping what the US exports to China:

  • New US and Chinese tariffs in 2025 (including a Chinese baseline duty of around 125% on US goods plus extra product‑specific tariffs) are expected to reduce many categories of exports if they remain in place.
  • Semiconductor and aerospace exports grew in 2024, but this wasn’t enough to fully offset declines in oilseeds, grains, and oil and gas exports.
  • Slower Chinese growth and weaker consumer demand, plus import substitution and industrial policy in China, are also weighing on some US export categories.

Quick HTML table of key export types

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Category Examples Recent trend / notes
Aerospace Commercial aircraft, parts Expanded in 2024; still a flagship US export sector to China.
Semiconductors & electronics Chips, electronic components Grew in 2024 but subject to export controls and tech tensions.
Agriculture Soybeans, corn, meat, dairy, oilseeds & grains Historically huge; more volatile recently, with notable drops in oilseeds and grains.
Energy Crude oil, LNG, refined products Important but has seen contractions alongside broader trade frictions.
Autos & machinery Cars, auto parts, industrial equipment Pressured by tariffs and China’s push for domestic production.
Chemicals & plastics Industrial chemicals, resins, plastics Steady but sensitive to global manufacturing cycles.
Education services Chinese students in US universities One of the largest US service exports to China by value.
Travel & tourism Chinese visitors spending in the US Recovered somewhat after the pandemic, still influenced by visa and political climate.
IP & business services Licensing, royalties, financial & professional services Smaller than goods but strategically important high‑value exports.
**TL;DR:** The US mainly exports planes, chips, farm products, and energy to China, plus big‑money services like education and tourism, but tariffs and politics since 2024–2025 are reshaping which of these grow and which shrink.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.