U.S. exports to China have grown (although at a slower rate than imports) since 2000. In 2000, about $16 billion of goods were exported to China. By 2018, this amount had grown to $120 billion. This growth has been approximately linear.
(a) Determine a linear equation that approximates this growth in exports in terms of t, where t represents the number of years since 2000.
(b) Describe the rate at which the exports to China are changing.
(c) Based on the answer to part (a), what is the predicted amount of exports in 2020?
(d) If this trend were to continue, in what year would exports from China be at least $250 billion?