China, in his words · 2016 campaign · № 30
Said China's entry into the WTO enabled 'the greatest jobs theft in history'
“NAFTA was the worst trade deal in history, and China's entrance into the World Trade Organization has enabled the greatest jobs theft in history.”
- Said
- , Trade speech at Alumisource, Monessen, Pennsylvania (text as published)
- Subject
- manufacturing jobs
- Threat
- Economic threat
- Topic
- Trade & tariffs
- Era
- 2016 campaign
What the record showed
In the same speech he said he would use tariffs under Sections 201 and 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 and Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 if China did not stop 'illegal activities.' In office he raised the average U.S. tariff on Chinese goods to 19.3 percent by February 2020, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics. FactCheck.org found the economy added manufacturing jobs in each of his first 24 months, that the gains began to erode in March 2019, and that when he left office there were 178,000 fewer people employed in manufacturing than when he became president.