China’s exports grew by just 8.1% in April, a big drop from the previous month after Donald Trump’s triple-digit tariffs took effect, in another sign of the damage the US president’s trade war is causing the world’s two largest economies.

China’s exports growth showed resilience in April, defying expectations that the effects of a trade war with the US would start to bite. Exports grew 8.1 per cent in dollar terms compared with a year earlier, according to statistics from China’s customs administration released on Friday.

China has reported that its exports rose 8.1% in April from the year before, much higher than most economists had been expecting, in the tail end of a rush by companies and consumers to beat higher U.