China, in his words · 2016 campaign · № 20
Said China 'kills us' on trade and that he beats China 'all the time'
“When was the last time anybody saw us beating, let's say, China in a trade deal? They kill us. I beat China all the time. All the time.”
- Said
- , Presidential campaign announcement speech, Trump Tower, New York
- Subject
- trade deals
- Threat
- Economic threat
- Topic
- Trade & tariffs
- Era
- 2016 campaign
What the record showed
Census Bureau data show the U.S. goods trade deficit with China was $346.8 billion in 2016, the year before he took office. It rose to $375.2 billion in 2017 and $418.2 billion in 2018, the largest annual figure in the Census series, then fell to $342.6 billion in 2019 and $308.0 billion in 2020. In 2020 he signed a 'phase one' trade deal that committed China to buy $200 billion in 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.