The Economist Magazine reported at the beginning of the month in an article titled “The Incredible Shrinking Surplus” the trade deficit between China and the United States narrowed by as much as a third compared to the year before, and that it’s set to decrease even further.

But look, bean counters in the two countries can slim the trade deficit even further when their numbers actually match:

In fact there are rather less sinister explanations for much of the discrepancy between China’s numbers and those of its trading partners. The most important is that a lot of China’s trade is shipped through Hong Kong. It is often difficult for China’s statistical agency to track the final destination of such exports, so goods which are exported from China to Hong Kong and then re-exported to America, say, are usually recorded by officials on the mainland as exports to Hong Kong. By contrast, it is easier for customs officials in importing countries to determine the true country of origin, so America correctly records these same goods as imports from China. Likewise, America’s exports to China which go via Hong Kong may be recorded as exports to Hong Kong, while China will count them as imports from America.

The article goes on to explain the way Hong Kong re-exporters complicate matters, as well as how customs in the two countries value goods.

Nevertheless, the trade deficit is definitely trending downward.