China’s $735B Trade Surplus + How Beijing Masks Its Holdings + The G7 Debates Global Imbalances

The Spillover · Jun 2, 2026 · 56m

This episode unpacks why the trade and investment imbalances between the United States and China have grown to record levels despite years of pressure to correct them, and how the imbalanced system looks increasingly likely to collapse under its own weight.

Hosts:

Sebastian Mallaby, Paul A. Volcker Senior Fellow for International Economics, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)

Rebecca Patterson, Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)

Guest:

Brad W. Setser, Whitney Shepardson Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)

We discuss:

How China’s 2025 current account surplus…