Why does the United States have a huge external deficit with China but the euro zone does not?

In the recent period, the United States has had an external deficit with China of around USD 400 billion annually (or 1.8% of GDP) and the euro zone has had a trade deficit with China of EUR 150 billion annually (or around 1% of GDP). Why does the United States have a larger external deficit with China than the euro zone? First, we can first look at imports from China, which are a measure of the scale of companies’ offshoring to China. We see that they have the same weight in the United States and the euro zone; Next, we can look at exports to China, which are a measure of the quality of the productive specialisation, the ability of the productive structure to meet demand (China needs to import above all intermediate goods, capital goods and transport equipment). The euro zone has a much greater capacity to export to China than the United States. Altogether, the fact the United States has a larger external deficit than the euro zone with China is primarily due to shortcomings in the United States’ productive specialisation and export capacity.