The euro zone is sending its products around the world at a rate never seen before.
Its trade surplus hit a record €22.4 billion ($25.3 billion) in July.
A major reason for those surging exports has been the sagging euro. Thanks to the European Central Bank’s bond-buying program and the euro zone’s weak economic growth, the euro has been falling against the currencies of its major trading partners—the US, China, and Switzerland—since 2013.
Booming exports may seem like a reason for celebration (especially in Germany), but there are some dark clouds on the horizon. Although the recovering US buys more than twice as much of Europe’s exports as China, the latter still accounted for about 10% of outgoing shipments during the first half of the year. It’s a figure that’s bound to start shrinking. In general, China’s slowdown continues to loom large in the financial world:
