The Great Rerouting -- where China's exports go now

When the US raises tariffs on Chinese goods, the goods don't stop moving -- they change address. Chinese exports get shipped to Vietnam, Mexico, Thailand or Malaysia, lightly processed or simply relabeled, and re-exported to the US under a friendlier tariff line. Trade economists call it transshipment; customs lawyers call it origin washing. The signature is visible in the raw trade data: China's direct exports to the US stall or fall while its exports to the connector economies surge. These are China's reported total annual exports to each destination, year over year.