Abstract: The huge trade surplus of Sino-US trade has brought not only some trade problems, but also a series of environmental problems. By applying the environmental input-output model, this paper calculates the carbon dioxide emissions embodied in Sino-US trade and draws the conclusion as follows: among Sino-US trade most of the pollution trade terms of Chinese industries is bigger than 1 and the trade terms are becoming worse and worse; the industries with larger export scale and stronger trade competitiveness have the smaller exported carbon emission intensity, there is no necessary connection between China’s products exported to US and the pollutants; the FDI from America to China has not caused the transfer of American polluting industry into China, while the global FDI transferred into China has made the theory of “pollution haven” become true in China; the carbon emission speed in China’s export is lower than China’s export speed, the carbon emission intensity of exported unit is on a declining curve; in order to change the status of China as a country of pollution surplus, China should strengthen the control of imported pollution products from U.S., change the extensive production methods actively, and speed up the production of clean products at the higher-end of the value chain.

Key words: Sino-US trade; pollution trade term; pollution haven; carbon emissions; environmental input-out approach