China, in his words · First term · № 76

On China

Said in his convention speech that China was 'robbing our country blind'

“Washington insiders asked me not to stand up to China. They pleaded with me to let China continue stealing our jobs, ripping us off, and robbing our country blind. But I kept my word to the American people. We took the toughest, boldest, strongest and hardest-hitting action against China in American history by far.”
Said
, Address accepting the Republican presidential nomination, at the White House
Subject
jobs and trade
Threat
Economic threat
Topic
Trade & tariffs
Era
First term

What the record showed

The Phase One agreement he signed on January 15, 2020 committed China to buy $200 billion of additional U.S. exports by the end of 2021. The Peterson Institute for International Economics found China bought 58 percent of the total it had committed to purchase and none of the additional $200 billion; by the end of June 2020 its purchases were at 55 percent of the pro-rated target. Census Bureau figures show the U.S. goods deficit with China was $342.6 billion in 2019, $308.0 billion in 2020 and $352.8 billion in 2021.

Sources

  1. Address Accepting the Republican Presidential Nomination The American Presidency Project, Aug 27, 2020
  2. China bought none of the extra $200 billion of US exports in Trump's trade deal Peterson Institute for International Economics, Jul 19, 2022
  3. Trade in Goods with China U.S. Census Bureau, Sep 28, 2026