For the first time in seven years, fewer items came from China to the Netherlands last year. Laptops, telephones and solar panels in particular were imported less often. The passenger car did take a remarkable flight.
The Netherlands imported 104.3 billion euros worth of goods from China in 2023, which is almost 17 percent less than a year earlier, the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) calculates. Both trade and transit of goods are declining and, according to the statistics agency, this is ‘in line with the overall contraction of Chinese exports.’
Trade balance negative
Statistics Netherlands sees a decrease for the majority (71 percent) of the product groups from China. But fewer computers, laptops and tablets were imported. Modems and routers also find their way to the Netherlands less often, just like chips, semiconductors, solar panels and televisions.
Statistics Netherlands also notes that exports from the Netherlands to China grew by 20 percent, reducing the difference with what the Netherlands imports in goods from that country. Nevertheless, the trade balance with China is still negative (-81.9 billion euros), because the Netherlands still imports much more from China than it ships to that country.
Statistics Netherlands explains the decrease in imports from China partly due to competition from Taiwan, where computers, laptops and tablets now increasingly come from. Last year the country had an import value of 6.7 billion euros in this product category, compared to 2.2 billion a year earlier.
At the same time, Taiwan is not making up for all of China’s contraction, says RTL Z stock market commentator Durk Veenstra. “There is also simply less demand for items such as laptops and tablets.” During the corona pandemic, our hunger for electronics was insatiable, but now we are spending our money on going out again and there is less interest in that latest phone. “Also due to a lack of real innovation,” says Veenstra.
Passenger car in demand
However, the decline in imports from China does not apply to all products. The biggest increase last year was passenger cars, says Statistics Netherlands. Its import value grew from 107.6 million euros in 2022 to 1.1 billion euros in 2023. According to Veenstra, it is not surprising, because China is the winner of the game called the electric car.
China has no oil, but it does have the raw materials for these cars, a huge domestic market and an efficient way of production. Manufacturers make the cars en masse, and then see if there is a customer, according to Veenstra. “A lot of subsidies are also being put in, because the Chinese government wants to conquer the market.”
The result? A surplus of Chinese cars is waiting for new owners in the Dutch ports. And Chinese car companies such as BYD and Lynk & Co are moving into Dutch shopping streets or at Dutch dealers. These cars are also relatively cheap, which threatens to destroy the European car industry.
