China, in his words · Before politics · № 9
Cited a record trade deficit with China and wrote 'They are ripping us off'
“As of September 30th, we have a record trade deficit with China of over $217Billion. They are ripping us off. #TimeToGetTough”
- Said
- , Post on Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)
- Subject
- trade deficit
- Threat
- Economic threat
- Topic
- Trade & tariffs
- Era
- Before politics
What the record showed
Census Bureau data put the U.S. goods trade deficit with China at $295.2 billion for all of 2011. It was $346.8 billion in 2016, the year before Trump took office, then $375.2 billion in 2017 and $418.2 billion in 2018, the largest annual deficit in the Census series, which begins in 1985. It fell to $342.6 billion in 2019 and $308.0 billion in 2020. In 2025, the first year of his second term, it was $202.7 billion.